Posted on 02/18/2003 6:19:14 PM PST by blam
Radio station to give American liberals a voice
New network to offer alternative to rightwing hosts
Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles
Wednesday February 19, 2003
The Guardian (UK)
A liberal radio network in the United States that would challenge the current supremacy of conservative talkshow hosts could be on air by the autumn. The plan has been prompted by the success of the Republicans in last November's mid-term elections and a feeling that the national agenda has shifted to the right. The idea is to create a radio network that would make use of the liberal leanings of the entertainment world to try to change the climate of political debate.
For years, the right, with the likes of the Rush Limbaugh Show or programmes hosted by Oliver North and G Gordon Liddy, have set the agenda, according to supporters of the new network. Now, they say, is the time to fire some broadsides from the left.
Behind the plan are venture capitalists based in Chicago, and Jon Sinton, an Atlanta-based broadcaster, who will be its chief executive. There is already $10m (£6.3m) invested and there are hopes of raising up to $200m.
Two previous attempts to launch such a network, featuring the former New York governor Mario Cuomo and the maverick Texas politician Jim Hightower, failed, though those behind the latest plan are optimistic they will find listeners.
"We believe this is a tremendous business opportunity," Mr Sinton told Associated Press. "There are so many rightwing talkshows, we think it's created a hole in the market you could drive a truck through."
Al Franken, a satirist and writer, has been touted as a possible contender for the role of liberal talkshow host and he is said to be considering the idea. The hope would also be that big-name comedians or actors would also become involved.
Mr Sinton said the idea would be to entertain rather than preach. "We want to take an issue and make it funny and engaging," he said.
Rush Limbaugh reaches 15 million listeners with his syndicated show which taps into conservative issues, currently the French and their position on Iraq, and also such topics as gun control, affirmative action and gay rights.
National Public Radio, the closest thing in America to the BBC, is funded by foundations and subscribers and has 12 million listeners for its Morning Edition programme, and 10 million with All Things Considered, but these are news magazines that aim to give a voice to both sides of an argument. NPR is often accused by the right of having a liberal agenda, a charge routinely levelled at the US media by conservative commentators in much the same way that the Thatcher government accused the BBC of a leftwing bias.
There is already an established leftwing radio network - Pacifica Radio - which, for more than half a century, has given a voice to the left in Berkeley, Los Angeles, New York, Washington and Houston. It runs extensive news and discussion programmes and provided live coverage of the big anti-war rallies in the US last weekend. But Pacifica is short of cash and it is not possible to tune in in many parts of the country.
The left lacks a talkshow host with the charisma of Oliver North, who was convicted of lying to Congress over the Iran-contra affair and who turned his notoriety into a successful radio career with Common Sense Radio. As well as Limbaugh, there is G Gordon Liddy, the former FBI agent jailed for his role in the Watergate burglaries but now boasting a syndicated show broadcast on 232 stations.
Michael Moore, whose film Bowling for Columbine has been nominated for an Oscar, has been mentioned as someone with a liberal agenda who is also funny and can hold his own in an argument.
The plans for the new launch will provoke an argument about the definition of "liberal" - often used as a term of abuse by the American right. A series of best-selling books has claimed that the US media is in the grip of liberals but commentators on the left point to the increasing corporate control of the major media outlets and, for instance, their failure to report the growing anti-war movement until recent days.
correct and to the point, I LIKE IT!
WIPE
As if CBS, CNN, ABC, NBC, NYT, Washington Post, Reuters are not enough 24 hour a day liberal-spewing BS.
"We want to take an issue and make it funny and engaging," he said.
In other words, we will try to appeal to emotion because we will fail if we discuss things in an open, intellectually honest manner.
Good luck, leftists. If you really cared, you would take your $200 Million and feed the homeless or save the gay baby whales, or some such. In the free market, you are doomed.
Since they are going to be throwing it away, too bad we couldn't figure out a way to let some of it dribble into our hands.
KFIB
Are they going to have Bernie Ward out of SF write the scripts for them ?
How about Phil Donahue?
Who's going to want to listen to hours of this kind of crap, even assuming they actually let occasional opposing views through their screening process?
Short of such occasional "debate", the prevailing alternative programming would no doubt be a love-fest of lie-telling, anti-Americanism, and cries for more blood by the parasite class.
Overall, it would be like listening to 3 hours of the Jerry Springer show on the radio, without the added entertainment of actually getting the SEE the degenerate, low-IQ, gutter-trash freaks who call in.
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