Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Conservative radio: liberalism's favorite target
townhall.com ^ | 5/11/02 | David Limbaugh

Posted on 05/11/2002 12:48:13 AM PDT by kattracks

News Flash: The liberal elite media, who incidentally (and laughably) deny they're liberal, believe that conservatives possess a "simplistic world view." This is rich -- on many levels.

But first, do you buy their denials that they are in fact liberal? Do you think they aren't elitists or that they have a respectful view of conservatives? Do you believe they are open-minded, as they imply? Do you think they don't inject their political bias into their "news" stories?

If you mistakenly answered yes to any of these questions, please consider a delicious gem from Brent Bozell's Media Research Center (MRC). The peerless MRC devotes its glorious existence to exposing liberal media bias and demonstrating that your answer to all these questions should be "no."

In their latest Cyberalert, MRC treats us to a tidbit from NBC's Lisa Myers on a recent airing of "Nightly News." The report is quite revealing of the mindset of this self-absorbed, uncritical media culture.

In the story, Myers observed that conservatives dominate talk radio, which she attributed to the simplicity of the conservative worldview. I'm not kidding you.

You might be asking yourself what talk radio's supposed simplicity has to do with its success. What is the connection here?

"Well," says Myers, "experts say conservatives are more entertaining because their message fits the media." Sounds insulting to talk radio and its audiences on first blush, but surely Myers didn't mean it that way. Oh? Read on.

Myers next quoted approvingly Talkers Magazine's liberal Michael Harrison, saying, "The conservatives are more cut out for today's sound bite-oriented, short attention span, media environment ... "Where others see shades of gray, (conservative radio talk show hosts) mostly portray the world as black and white ..." Come on, Michael, you're supposed to be a talk radio expert (and advocate) -- but your take is embarrassingly shallow.

Would somebody please tell these sophisticates that TV is far more sound bite-oriented than radio? TV newscasts barely contain over 20 minutes of news -- perfect for short attention spans -- and consist of a series of superficial snapshots of major stories. By contrast, the talk radio format is conducive to lengthier reporting and analysis, and interaction with engaged and informed audiences.

And you want to talk about simplicity of worldviews? When it comes to network news, there is much less diversity of message among the three "giants" than among any three prominent talk radio shows.

If you have ever had the misfortune of watching the nightly newscasts of ABC, NBC and CBS back to back, you would have discovered that their messages couldn't be more in sync if their production staffs were part of a conspiracy.

But beyond being wrong, these statements are illustrative of the big media's attitude toward conservatives -- and provide the answers to the questions I posed above. They wouldn't talk so disparagingly about conservatives if they considered themselves conservative. They wouldn't equate conservatism with black and white simplicity if they weren't arrogant elitists or if they had respect for conservatives. They wouldn't analyze the phenomenon of conservative talk radio success with so little critical thinking if they weren't themselves close-minded, undiscriminating followers of a party line dictated by their oppressive, monolithic, self-contained culture. And they wouldn't infuse their subjective opinions into a broadcast labeled as "news" if they weren't determined to flavor their reports with their undisclosed biases.

Now please don't tell me that Lisa Myers is not representative of the typical media elite. Truth be told, she's probably not as liberal as most of her colleagues, including NBC anchor Tom Brokaw, who quarterbacks the newscast and introduced Myers for this story.

Yes, conservatives are more likely to see black and white in the sense of believing in moral absolutes. But that doesn't mean they fail to appreciate the complexity of the world and its subtle nuances.

Sure, conservatives tend to believe that human nature remains relatively constant (fallen) and that we can therefore learn from history. For example, they accept history's lesson that socialism smothers freedom and prosperity. But liberals, with their blind faith in man's perfectibility, have difficulty absorbing such lessons.

If the media elites were truly independent thinkers, wouldn't you see some variety of opinion among them? Instead they march in lockstep like their mind-numbed soul mates in Hollywood. It appears that they are just attempting to project their own negative characteristics onto conservatives. Sorry, they don't fit.

I'm afraid the elitists are simply jealous that they can't compete in talk radio, the alternative medium providing refuge for those long since fed-up with their bias.

David Limbaugh is author of Absolute Power: The Legacy of Corruption in the Clinton-Reno Justice Department.
Available through

Contact David Limbaugh | Read his biography

©2002 Creators Syndicate, Inc.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

1 posted on 05/11/2002 12:48:13 AM PDT by kattracks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: kattracks
Didn't Lisa Meyers used to work for Harper's before she worked at the White House?
2 posted on 05/11/2002 12:51:01 AM PDT by Janella
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks;Janella ;all
Here are sources for Media bias:

-Media Research-free e-letter--

-Reed Irvine's Accuracy in Media--

-the Ben Franklin Foundation--

-Citizen's Coalition for Responsible Media--


Do you all recall when a clintophilliac- I think it was Joe Conaston- labeled talk radio "hate radio?" That's how some view dissent...
3 posted on 05/11/2002 1:51:17 AM PDT by backhoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
The leftstream media's constant attacks on talk radio tell me that they not only take it seriously as a competitor, but they also realize that through Rush, Hannity, etc., the truth is getting out. Alternative news sources like talk radio, Fox News Channel, and the internet have finally given people the unvarnished truth about the left.
4 posted on 05/11/2002 3:55:05 AM PDT by ABG(anybody but Gore)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
The reason the left can't do talk radio, is the call-ins. They can't do C-span in the morning. The people, the workers call in a rip them up.
5 posted on 05/11/2002 5:05:30 AM PDT by Leisler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: backhoe
The Liberal take on talk radio is a real study in irony. In other words, the world is all shades of gray to a liberal unless of course he is discussing the conservatives and then it is really quite "black and white". Liberal views are "good" consesrvative views, "bad". Liberal=love, conservative=hate. Hardee, har har.

regards

6 posted on 05/11/2002 6:24:43 AM PDT by okiedust
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: okiedust
Since Liberals (and Liberal ideas) make no sense, they have to convince themselves that the reason they make no sense is that....well....its just too complex and difficult, so how can anyone expect them to make sense.

Its not their fault, its just....well.....too complex.

7 posted on 05/11/2002 6:57:04 AM PDT by eddie willers
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
BTTT
8 posted on 05/11/2002 7:09:37 AM PDT by StriperSniper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
I wish someone really smart would undertake a thorough, objective, sophisticated analysis of why conservatives dominate talk radio and why liberals have failed to gain even a toehold in it. If someone were to write a book on the subject, I would buy it.

What is interesting to me are the proportions. In terms of who has a presence in talk radio, it's not a 60/40 split, or even a 70/30 split; it's more like a 95/5 split -- a total blowout for the conservatives. This extreme lopsidedness is fascinating to me. It is a striking manifestation of some fundamental difference in the way liberals and conservatives think about things, and I'd like to see somebody really pin down what it is.

9 posted on 05/11/2002 7:47:12 AM PDT by Yardstick
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
Every liberal is a thug.
10 posted on 05/11/2002 7:47:51 AM PDT by moyden
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
If anything, we have to consider that the liberals are the ones with a simplistic viewpoint. According to any self-respecting liberal, anything can be fixed if the government throws money at it. If the schools are passing students who can't read, by all means don't kick the violent students out of the classroom or fail them (which in my state of Michigan, is illegal without parental consent until the children reach high school), give the schools money. If there is a high crime rate in a given area, don't put the perpetrators in jail, throw more money into social programs. . Are certain women given to having several children by several fathers that they never bother to put time into raising? Give these mothers more and more money. According to them, government money is the answer to every problem and accountability should never come into play
11 posted on 05/11/2002 8:42:51 AM PDT by onevoter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eddie willers
Of course, that's it. How dense of me. I'll bet they have real discussions about Occam's razor, too. Probably think its a tool to slice and dice simple things in order to reduce them to their most complex components. LOL

regards

12 posted on 05/11/2002 10:34:36 AM PDT by okiedust
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: okiedust
I'll bet they have real discussions about Occam's razor

And if confronted by the Gordian Knot,
they would stand around taking about the intricate weave and its impossibility
while standing gobsmacked at Alexander's solution.

13 posted on 05/11/2002 10:52:01 AM PDT by eddie willers
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Yardstick
What is interesting to me are the proportions. In terms of who has a presence in talk radio, it's not a 60/40 split, or even a 70/30 split; it's more like a 95/5 split -- a total blowout for the conservatives.

And proof positive of this is the recent programming shuffle that happened this week on KABC 790 AM Los Angeles. Gloria Allred (aptly named I must say and formerly on the air from 9 - noon) got bumped back to one hour in the 11 - 12 slot. Seems KABC just can't find a spot where people want to listen to her. Hmmm, I wonder why? They've tried drive home, evenings, weekends, now morning, and she can't seem to make it anywhere.

Who bumped her out? Bill O'Reilly. KABC loves the Allred message, but they know what pays the bills.

Case closed. And no, I don't listen to her. It's just impossible sometimes not to slip in all that bile while surfing channels on the AM dial.

14 posted on 05/11/2002 11:01:46 AM PDT by Euro-American Scum
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: ABG(anybody but Gore)
Most conservative radio is listened to while driving alone in a car. I wonder if the liberal's attraction to buses, car pools, and trains, for the little people, not them, has something to do imprinting on people a nameless collective worker bee mind set as well as cutting people off from conservative influence and a freedom loving lifestyle.
15 posted on 05/11/2002 11:07:36 AM PDT by Reeses
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: ABG(anybody but Gore)
Actually this may explain partly why big cities are not conservative. City dwellers ride the buses and subways and don't drive alone much listening to conservative ideas.
16 posted on 05/11/2002 11:09:40 AM PDT by Reeses
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Reeses
Actually this may explain partly why big cities are not conservative. City dwellers ride the buses and subways and don't drive alone much listening to conservative ideas.

I think most lefties are not good listeners or good readers. Except for the elite rulers, most of the lefties probably didn't pay attention in school classes or read their books very well. TV is popular with them because they are at the picture-book level.

17 posted on 05/11/2002 11:27:04 AM PDT by angry elephant
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: eddie willers
How long before they tried to put him(Alexander) in jail because he didn't "play fair?" After all, everyone else tried to "do the right thing" and untie the knot. They intended to do it, so they should get credit for that. Clearly Alexander took advantage of them. He was a bad man, winner of life's lottery, etc.

regards

18 posted on 05/11/2002 11:49:46 AM PDT by okiedust
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: kattracks
Truth always happens to be simpler. It is lies that take a lot of words.
19 posted on 05/11/2002 11:58:25 AM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Yardstick
I wish someone really smart would undertake a thorough, objective, sophisticated analysis of why conservatives dominate talk radio and why liberals have failed to gain even a toehold in it

You apparently never listened to Mario Cuomo's radio show. If you had you wouldn't need to request a study. He used out right lies regarding factual matters to support his views. It wasn't hard to debate him.

20 posted on 05/11/2002 12:01:52 PM PDT by VRWC_minion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson