Guest blogger: Debbie Smith
One of my pet peeves is that in the Lehigh Valley, there is only one talk radio station, and it is all right-wing, all the time. From the early morning when a local Rush-wannabe hosts the drive to work, through Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and whatever insanity comes next, there is only one side of the story, spouting hatred for President Obama and everything progressive. I try to avoid it, but sometimes I hit that 790 button and listen in fascination as the most ridiculous statements come out of the mouths of these men, who clearly have no grasp on what life is like here in the real world.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Where is progressive talk radio?
Thank goodness for the Internet and streaming radio where, from a station out of Chicago, I can hear the likes of Thom Hartman, Stephanie Miller (always good for a laugh), Bill Press, and others who explore issues that are near and dear to my heart. Not all of the left talkers are for everybody. I have a hard time listening to some of these personalities, mostly because of a negative manner, but at least they're progressive. Unfortunately, they are not available on the radio in my car, where I spend a good hour every day on my commute, and where the only non-music station I can tolerate is NPR. And if the Republicans have their way, even that will be gone.
With huge corporations like Citadel and Clear Channel running the show, it's no wonder that the Center for American Progress comes up with the following findings:
• 91 percent of the political talk radio programming on the stations owned by the top five commercial station owners is conservative, and 9 percent is progressive.
• 2,570 hours and 15 minutes of conservative talk radio are broadcast each weekday on these stations compared to 254 hours of progressive talk.
• 92 percent of these stations (236 stations out of 257) do not broadcast a single minute of progressive talk radio programming. *
It's also no wonder that so many people across the country are voting against their own best interests!
I don't know what the answer is, although bringing back the Fairness Doctrine would be a good start. But as long as the loudest voices out there, backed by big business, are anti-Democratic, anti-progressive, and completely right-wing, our side of the story is lost on the airwaves.
*See the whole report here: The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio
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I have to agree with you about the lack of progressive talk radio. I am retired so I don't spend much time in my car. I watch MSNBC, at least there I can get the truth about what is really happening to this country.
ReplyDeleteYou might get a chuckle out of this. Since I live in the Chicago area, I received a flyer in the mail the other day from a right wing radio station. There was a picture on the front of the usual suspects. What I found amusing was under the picture of Glen Beck were the words Intelligent Talk. It's truly sad when people fall for this stuff.
That's in the same league as Fox's "Fair and Balanced"!
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