[spence]

Originally Posted by detbuch

And what I've heard on liberal talk radio, to put it in your words but exchanging "conservative" for "liberal"--the subject usually is how things would be right if the conservative ideology would be removed. Which "strokes" the liberal audience and assures it that it doesn't have to change. Which, as hearsay on our parts, is not evidence for why there's a much smaller liberal presence in talk radio.

Well, no radio programming would succeed if it didn't respond play to it's audience. The point was that conservatives may have an easier job as they're tweaking a lower level emotion that's more common across all ideologies.

I didn't say he did. I said that conservative talk radio deals with the "somethings wrong" issue which you say is the meat of liberal talk radio, implying that conservative talk is just about stroking the listeners assuring them that they are right just as they are. I said he challenges his audience to dialog on the "something wrong" stuff (albeit from a different perspective than liberal radio). And, unless he's changed since I used to listen to him, he welcomes liberal callers, puts them ahead of others, and has a substantial dialog with them.

I don't think the format (i.e. Rush is ALWAYS right) has changed that much, although over the last decade I think he's become a little less tolerant.

As for having a substantial dialog with liberal callers, I can't say I've ever heard it.

Well, if "other media" includes liberal talk radio, then why is liberal talk radio so less successful?

I think what's been said above, as well as perhaps good timing. Rush emerged as a giant because he's pretty talented and spawned a lot of copy cats.

Anyway, I didn't say that subjects or perspectives heard on conservative radio are not discussed elsewhere. The discussions on conservative talk radio which I said listeners hear, including moderates and liberals, are not only about the subjects, certainly about the perspectives, but even more, the time and depth spent on those perspectives, and dealt with by those who have a less apologetically "right" or "conservative" view. Though I have heard some of this type of discussion on television, for the most part, even on fox, it is not as heavily slanted toward the right as on conservative talk radio. And it is not as thoroughly covered in the variety of details, even to the smallest complaints that conservatives have. And, certainly, such discussions on TV are minimal compared to liberal or centrist programs. Hence, my comment that conservative talk radio presents a venue for discussions that listeners don't hear MUCH elsewhere.

I'm not sure I'd agree that the venue produces that good of a discussion. It's primarily entertainment with little nutrition. About the only widely available programming that consistently gets to substance on a variety of issues is on NPR.

Perhaps I need to listen more.

-spence