Schumacher must be living there because he sure as hell isn't living on Earth.
Posted on 05/20/2004 6:53:40 PM PDT by Libloather
Editor's Note: Local radio's lone liberal voice
Thursday, May 20, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury
The myth of the "liberal media" endures, despite the fact that it's an absurd notion. It survives, in part, because the right-wing media have found it to be an effective mantra to boost circulation and ratings.
Conservatives clearly have the upper hand on television, where it's increasingly difficult to find a liberal voice (Lisa Simpson being a dependable exception). The cable news talk shows pretend to present both sides of issues when in reality a centrist is usually trotted out to represent a counterpoint to the right. When Sen. John McCain is the most progressive voice coming through the TV set, you know you're getting an incomplete picture.
The nation's newspapers may have a fair number of liberals on their staffs, but they aren't in the ownership ranks. Newspaper owners--mostly large corporations--are a conservative lot, and their editorial viewpoints tend to reflect this. A recent Bush campaign ad quotes several major papers--all but one of them well-known conservative publications--blasting Democratic nominee John Kerry. Newspapers that once were proud bastions of liberalism, such as the Washington Post, have been inching to the right in recent years.
The right enjoys its greatest dominance over radio, where the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Bill O'Reilly spew copious amounts of misinformation and vitriol. Unlike print and television, there is no pretense of accuracy on radio.
And unlike television and print, radio doesn't even pretend to provide balance. It's all conservative, all the time--like it or lump it. The one bastion of radio sanity, National Public Radio, is highly sensitive to accusations that it has a liberal agenda, nudging it closer to the center.
An earnest attempt is being made to challenge the right's radio dominance. Air America Radio, featuring Al Franken, Janeane Garafalo and other prominent lefties, was launched earlier this year on a half-dozen small stations in major markets (not Las Vegas). Although it's been something of a media curiosity, Air America hasn't exactly taken the nation by storm. The project doesn't seem to have the resources yet to truly compete.
Las Vegas talk radio is almost exclusively conservative. KDWN 720-AM and KXNT 840-AM feature day-long slates of right-wing hosts, local and national. KXNT is anchored by the hypocritical, partisan Limbaugh, while KDWN features the hateful, scurrilous Savage.
Then there is Doug Basham. Basham is a genuine liberal with a radio show. He utters left-wing views with the same ruthless enthusiasm exhibited by Limbaugh and O'Reilly.
But let's not get excited just yet. Basham is on the air for just one hour per day (8-9 a.m.)--an hour that he must pay for (in his case, the bill is covered by an anonymous benefactor). Also, Basham's show is on KLAV 1230-AM, a small station compared with the high-powered KXNT and KDWN. KLAV doesn't really know how many people listen to Basham's show because it doesn't subscribe to the Arbitron ratings. Five people could be his audience on any given day and it wouldn't matter as long as he pays for the time. (It's clear Basham has developed a decent following, however, based on the number of calls he receives.)
But unlike his conservative competitors, Basham isn't just regurgitating bloated rhetoric day after day. He's the hardest-working man in the pay-to-play radio business. Basham has an impressive record of landing high-profile guests. He has had some genuinely big names on his show, including New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, author Craig Unger (House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties), author Kevin Phillips (American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush), Florida Sen. Bob Graham, syndicated columnist Molly Ivins, TV commentator Tucker Carlson, former presidential candidates Gary Hart and Pat Buchanan, and Daniel Ellsberg of "Pentagon Papers" fame.
Basham has developed good relationships with book publishers. If he does an interview with a prominent author and it goes well, the publisher is likely to set him up with another writer. Basham says the interviews have gone well because he actually reads the books his guests write. "A strictly local show like mine has no right getting these kinds of guests," Basham admits. "But I have a good reputation among publishers. I don't ask the standard questions."
Basham's goal is to become nationally syndicated. He sent some tapes to Air America but they suggested he wasn't funny enough. Which is ironic, considering Basham's pre-radio career as a magician/comedian. He performed years ago at Vegas World and the Holiday Casino. Getting a chance with a major radio chain is a longshot.
"I'd like to be syndicated by a Clear Channel or Premiere Radio," he says. "But when you do talk radio that is critical of Bush, the Clear Channels aren't exactly beating down your door. If you don't toe the Bush line, look what happened to Howard Stern. He was telling listeners not to vote for Bush and that's why Clear Channel dumped him."
Undeterred, Basham has two major guests next week. On Monday he is slated to interview former Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Wilson, a revered veteran of foreign service, was sent to Niger by Vice President Dick Cheney to investigate a rumor that Saddam Hussein had tried to buy uranium there. Wilson checked it out and found it wasn't true. Cheney didn't like Wilson's findings and Bush gave the rumor credence in his State of the Union address. Wilson spilled the beans in the New York Times, after which the right (in the form of columnist Bob Novak) retaliated by outing Wilson's CIA operative wife.
On Friday, Basham is scheduled to interview John Dean, who has a new book called Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush that draws unflattering comparisons between Bush and Dean's old boss, Richard Nixon.
Basham fights fire with fire, which means he sometimes sounds like a liberal version of Limbaugh. But while he's a partisan, he is much less likely than Limbaugh to twist reality to fit his agenda. Basham is the only proud liberal voice on local radio, and he's the only one interviewing serious critics of the Bush administration. He's worth a listen.
--GEOFF SCHUMACHER
Doesn't Lisa show up on the weekends to read the news? And yes, you can tell she's a lefty. Another reason the libs are losing viewers...
Oh no, I've run out of tin foil and kool aid.
The Conservatives
The Liberals
The Loonies
Ditto the local TV news.
Only a disingenuous moron/socialist could have written that article.
They came back as undeliverable.
ole geoff put the lie to his story right there...if the "one bastion of radio sanity" has to move to the center to curb charges of liberal slant, doesn't that mean they are to the left of center? and doesn't that in turn mean that, to this guy, sanity is left of center.
way to expose yourself in your own column, junior.
I'm sick of this liberal canard that because some evil corporation owns a network that it is somehow conservative. Ted Turner, Time Warner/AOL, Disney with Eisner and now the ex-Democrat Senator, George Mitchell, Viacom-Simon and Schuster, Bill Gates, Paul Allen...etc., etc., etc.
Some of the wealthiest people on this planet aren't just liberals..they're socialist. I just heard that the so-called media poll that attacked Foxnews viewers as misinformed was conducted by the Ford Foundation, the Tides Foundation and another third liberal group I can't recall.
Between Hollywood, the media, trial attorneys, academia and the unions...liberals control some of the most influential institutions in America. To listen to them cry poor-mouth because Fox and talk radio have dented their monopoly on information is exceedingly, hilarious.
Just the incestuous relationship within the liberal media is disturbing, with former Democrat aides and politicians filling roles as supposed impartial journalist...or married to one and other. Heck, Rush reported a story today from an insider media trade publication asking all editors to start demanding a withdraw from Iraq. The fact that someone has the temerity to even suggest such a thing indicates the shared ideology and bias. Please!
Probably got rejected from NPR too, given that particular rant.
After a screed like that, Mr. Schumacher should wipe his lips with toilet paper.
Schumacher must be living there because he sure as hell isn't living on Earth.
Mr Soros, that pesky radio guy is on line two.
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