I like to hear what people believe. I enjoy hearing other peoples’ opinions and perspectives, so I often listen to talk radio when I drive. All of the talk radio I get to listen to is conservative, so recently I was excited to be driving out of town where I could hear some liberal talk radio. Something became incredibly clear after just a short time of listening… conservative talk radio dominates liberal talk radio for one simple reason. The message.
They have two very different overall messages and it’s clear which one is going to appeal to the general public:
Conservative – The government doesn’t have a clue and the American people’s common sense and values is the answer to our problems.
Liberal – The government has the answers and a huge-chunk of American people don’t have a clue.
Which would you rather be told over and over? Which would you listen to? I think it’s pretty clear why liberal talk radio has a hard time surviving.
I asked National radio show host Lars Larson what he thinks about the difference between the two. And he shared a perspective I hadn’t ever thought of.
“I listen to liberal radio almost everyday. They bash almost anything that has to do with business and that makes it hard to sell advertising,” said Larson. “They do things like bashing Christians and about 85% of America claims to be or identifies themselves as Christians.”
Larson also made a great point about the business of running a radio show.
“Air America has gone bankrupt several times. They hire political people and try to learn them to do radio… it doesn’t work.”
August 24th, 2009 at 8:21 am
Good points, Josh. I used to listen to NPR all the time, and what set my teeth on edge was the fact that Kathleen Dunn and her crew always bring on “Professor Such and Such” from “Such and Such University.” I never heard a small business owner, for instance. Add to that the fact that NPR is forever supported by endowments and foundations like the “Katherine T. and McCarther P. Such and Such” and a pattern begins to emerge. Who is going to advertise on radio that has to be supported by endowments, that is populated by garrulous, pompous, and ultimately ivory tower personages? Let me breathe, man.
August 25th, 2009 at 10:03 am
i totally agree Dalan.
August 25th, 2009 at 11:22 am
The other reason that Liberal radio does not work is that most liberal radio is so far left leaning it borders on facisim. Conservitive radio on the other hand while there are some outliers (Hannity) is pretty close to the center. Most americans consider themselves or are close to the equalibrium sans people like Tim Mcvey and George Soros. When you get so far one way or the other you start to alienate a good majority of your listeners, and that is what Liberal radio stations like Air America have done.
August 26th, 2009 at 11:57 am
an interesting thought on this is that capitalism is based on personal choice while socialism is based on the state’s choice (the state of course supposing to speak for the general population).
Traditionally it seems that conservative talk radio is able to be supported through advertising, which by nature is based on capitalist principles of supply and demand. Liberal talk radio on the other hand seems to rely on donations, grants and wealthy underwriters. There is nothing wrong with these means of funds.
Interestingly most liberal news sources, including MSNBC and the like bemoan the “Big Money” power structure of conservatives, and yet many liberal media outlets are, by nature, dependent on “Big Money” people. What occurs when someone is dependent on “big money” rather than a “general appeal” is that they then appeal to “Big Money People,” rather than the masses. The result is the constant bailout and lacking ratings of most liberal news sources.
The opposite side of this would be the “mob” factor. Just because the masses agree on something, does not make that thing write, and this where Truth is so important, because Truth is not relative to the masses or the “big money” people, but it is fundamental to all creation, and is the key factor by which we operate, and this is where i will allude to the great film “Gladiator” in which the valiant warrior becomes a slave, wins the mob, and in turn throws an empire on its kiester. There is something horrific and glorious about the mob, and i believe its condition is determined by the people’s heart desire. As followers of Christ i believe it is our duty to “speak Truth with Love.” and constantly shower God’s people, the bride of Christ with the Word, that she may be cleansed by it. I dont believe this means walking around reading greek, hebrew, king james or the message, but knowing the Word as Christ intended. Christ never wrote a book, and yet His Word is the best selling book to have ever been published by man. powerful and paradoxical!
To bring this back to center, i would say the proof is in the pudding, and for better or worse Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh have got a lot of pudding:o)
October 5th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Josh,
Have you read/heard of the book:
The Sound Bite Society: How Television Helps the Right and Hurts the Left ?
The basic idea is that the conservative message is inherently simple, and therefore easily reduced to “sound bites” while the liberal message is inherently complex enough that people get fed up - in a society fixated on quick focused messages and slogans that are easily remembered. I’m not sure I agree, but if it is true, I wonder if this might apply to the radio as well.
October 5th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Aaron, i think it does apply. in my opinion, truth is very simple and straightforward, where a lie takes much more effort to spin.