I've been a talk radio listener since the mid-1960s! Talk radio has always been very big in Pittsburgh....and I was listening to talk while Rush....or 'Jeff Christie' as he was known on Pittsburgh radio back then....was playing records on nearby KQV. Callers were always a big part of the fun as you never really knew what the next caller was going to be like. Controversy.....I'm sure that you remember this.....was a big ratings boost....so the hosts wanted the callers that could generate a rip-roaring argument.
Today.....talk radio is generically the same in that you have an opinionated host.....and callers....although a lot less call-ins....as the bigger the star of the host.....the less calls are necessary. At least that's how it seems to me. Well talk radio has changed drastically in other ways also. Today it is a force to be reckoned with as it can make and break presidents. Readers to these posts from around the world may find this hard to understand....but they should know that America's 'Left' rules the television waves....(primarily through its mainstream news and prime time programming) and America's 'Right' rules the radio waves....but there is a problem that may have developed on radio.
Debate and spirited dialogue used to be the essence of talk radio....leading often to the controversy as mentioned above....but that's all gone....and we are worse off and less informed because of it. Rush and Sean and Mark do not want controversy. That's actually the last thing that they must want. Oh they want controversy as far as the Left in America is concerned....the host and the callers against the Left....but not between the host and the callers. There is no debate and spirited dialogue needed or even wanted anymore.....for there is a task at hand....defend at all costs the reelection campaign of President Trump.
The problem extends even further whereas once we listened to talk radio and through the medium could get a relatively accurate glimpse of America and Americans....but today we may be getting a programmed and choreographed.....possibly false glimpse of President Trump's 'base' and Republican voters.....(for talk radio today is essentially all conservative talk on the national shows.)
I have no inside information on this but would like one of the national magazines to do a story on it. How are the callers chosen....that's what interests me. For instance....on Rush's show....approximately how many callers would they estimate try to get in....and what prompts the producer.....(Mr. Snerdley in the case of Rush)....to pick the callers that get on. Once again....at one time a good controversy and genuine debate was a good thing....but today it has to be all about supporting the hosts opinion....and callers who do not like President Trump would work against that end.
Why is this important? Well....we are listening all the time.....in the car and at home....and right now we hear a steady stream of staunch support for President Trump.....thus encouraging us in the opinion given by the host....which is all pro-Trump....but this may be an illusion. Compounding the problem is that listeners who are not happy with President Trump may....and probably are....intimidated from calling in to express opinions contrary to the hosts. Why call in if you are going to be ridiculed? Ultimately....we have the right to know if President Trump's support is remaining high in part because of the manipulation of perception on the part of conservative talk radio.
Note: Pittsburgh at one time had a very popular evening talk show host named John Cigna who was very controversial. Circumstances called for him to be switched to 'morning drive talk.' Well....he was just as popular....but not controversial anymore....for the time slot did not call for it.
Addendum: The first commercial radio broadcast by KDKA....(the same radio station that I listened to talk radio early on)....occurred about 6 pm on election day November 2, 1920 from a shack on top of one of the buildings of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It's possible that both of my grandfathers were in that building during that broadcast for both were young men employed by Westinghouse at the time.
On the topic of talk radio....the following post is from June 1st:
HE HAS CHANGED US.....FOR THE WORSE
A warning to Brits: This man is not your friend....he is nobody's friend.....in love only with himself. Make no mistake about it.....Donald Trump is simply a power and money man. The conservative movement is dead here in America save for those of us who have not bowed down to the golden image....but know this also lest you think we are few....we're not the rally type....nor the parade type....nor are we awed by pomp and circumstance. We may be steamrolled before this is all over....and rolled over....but we will not just roll over. We not only trust in God.....we trust in His warnings. We acknowledge our part in what America has become.....a violent.....post-Christian....idolatrous nation....and refuse to say....'make America great again'....if that greatness is not in accordance with the will of Jesus Christ....who has watched all of this.....and may have already summoned His mighty angels....to return and judge this world in righteousness.
I wrote in December of 2016 in a post titled....'Your Mission....Should You Accept It...." that conservative talk radio had been...."our Publius, our Thomas Paine, our Benjamin Franklin, and our John Locke transmogrified into waves of electromagnetic radiation travelling at the speed of light into every kitchen and workroom and automobile in America.....these stellar stars that we navigated by through a perfect storm wrapped in a cosmic disturbance that threatened every foundation laid in the latter half of the eighteenth century....these men and women kept the heat on and the power dry. Their mission now....a much more difficult mission this time....should they accept it....is to bring God into the equation....but first they have to realize that God alone rules in the affairs of men...."
There was no one quite like Rush Limbaugh with his extraordinary ability to structure an argument in a way that not only informs but motivates.....there was no one quite like Sean Hannity with his energy....which amazed me for more than a few years as he did not only his radio and television shows but was the force behind rallies that supported our military at a time when they needed it most.....and there was no one quite like Mark Levin putting words on paper....(Liberty And Tyranny etc.).....where he was both profound and perspicuous. There were more than these three.....and Steve Bannon was like a string of fireworks until he moved directly to the campaign.....but these three men directed a grand and victorious war that culminated in the Battle of November 8, 2016. Over the years previous they remained determined through times of defeat....and were aggressive during the battle.....but inexplicably....almost unfathomably.....they totally collapsed......even surrendered....in victory!
What I was saying in that December, 2016 post was that the victory was won.....now was the time to build upon a strong foundation....in fact the only foundation.....reverence for our creator. I actually thought that they might do that.....but I was wrong. At the time....whether in previous victories or defeats....we conservatives had defended the high ground....but apparently the Trump victory parties were down below.....so we hurried down so as not to miss anything exciting....and never went back up that hill.
It's possible that I was naive in this because I had never actually joined in with this Trump train. I was never enraptured by what I saw. I celebrated on election day.....but I never considered it a new army to belong to or Donald Trump a new leader to follow. As far as I was concerned we were still constitutional conservatives who had found a man who could take the battle to the enemy....and now it was time to continue to do what we had been doing.
These same conservative radio hosts squeaked a little as they nervously fidgeted in their chairs when Ivanka and Jared were brought in the White House.....and they shuffled their stack of stuff a little loudly when other swamp creatures were brought in.....but by the time President Trump was endorsing Luther Strange.....all the discernment....and all the fight.....of over two decades....was gone.....and it would be one long slippery slope down into the swamp from then on in.
As it stands today conservative talk radio has utterly failed us.....but it would not be wise nor right to forget how it was they that held us together for so long. It's my opinion that they may eventually see who Donald Trump turned out to be.....but as I mentioned above.....I had been wrong before. We shall see.
It would benefit us to remind ourselves that as important as conservative talk radio once was to us....they are not gods to us....and we do not have to automatically believe every word that they say.....and that the very powers of scrutiny and examination that they helped us develop.....now has to be used towards them. Christians especially should recognize Bunyan's 'enchanted ground' we now find ourselves living on that has made us drowsy....and then recall our own mission with the orders of...."Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober."
Today.....talk radio is generically the same in that you have an opinionated host.....and callers....although a lot less call-ins....as the bigger the star of the host.....the less calls are necessary. At least that's how it seems to me. Well talk radio has changed drastically in other ways also. Today it is a force to be reckoned with as it can make and break presidents. Readers to these posts from around the world may find this hard to understand....but they should know that America's 'Left' rules the television waves....(primarily through its mainstream news and prime time programming) and America's 'Right' rules the radio waves....but there is a problem that may have developed on radio.
Debate and spirited dialogue used to be the essence of talk radio....leading often to the controversy as mentioned above....but that's all gone....and we are worse off and less informed because of it. Rush and Sean and Mark do not want controversy. That's actually the last thing that they must want. Oh they want controversy as far as the Left in America is concerned....the host and the callers against the Left....but not between the host and the callers. There is no debate and spirited dialogue needed or even wanted anymore.....for there is a task at hand....defend at all costs the reelection campaign of President Trump.
The problem extends even further whereas once we listened to talk radio and through the medium could get a relatively accurate glimpse of America and Americans....but today we may be getting a programmed and choreographed.....possibly false glimpse of President Trump's 'base' and Republican voters.....(for talk radio today is essentially all conservative talk on the national shows.)
I have no inside information on this but would like one of the national magazines to do a story on it. How are the callers chosen....that's what interests me. For instance....on Rush's show....approximately how many callers would they estimate try to get in....and what prompts the producer.....(Mr. Snerdley in the case of Rush)....to pick the callers that get on. Once again....at one time a good controversy and genuine debate was a good thing....but today it has to be all about supporting the hosts opinion....and callers who do not like President Trump would work against that end.
Why is this important? Well....we are listening all the time.....in the car and at home....and right now we hear a steady stream of staunch support for President Trump.....thus encouraging us in the opinion given by the host....which is all pro-Trump....but this may be an illusion. Compounding the problem is that listeners who are not happy with President Trump may....and probably are....intimidated from calling in to express opinions contrary to the hosts. Why call in if you are going to be ridiculed? Ultimately....we have the right to know if President Trump's support is remaining high in part because of the manipulation of perception on the part of conservative talk radio.
Note: Pittsburgh at one time had a very popular evening talk show host named John Cigna who was very controversial. Circumstances called for him to be switched to 'morning drive talk.' Well....he was just as popular....but not controversial anymore....for the time slot did not call for it.
Addendum: The first commercial radio broadcast by KDKA....(the same radio station that I listened to talk radio early on)....occurred about 6 pm on election day November 2, 1920 from a shack on top of one of the buildings of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It's possible that both of my grandfathers were in that building during that broadcast for both were young men employed by Westinghouse at the time.
On the topic of talk radio....the following post is from June 1st:
HE HAS CHANGED US.....FOR THE WORSE
A warning to Brits: This man is not your friend....he is nobody's friend.....in love only with himself. Make no mistake about it.....Donald Trump is simply a power and money man. The conservative movement is dead here in America save for those of us who have not bowed down to the golden image....but know this also lest you think we are few....we're not the rally type....nor the parade type....nor are we awed by pomp and circumstance. We may be steamrolled before this is all over....and rolled over....but we will not just roll over. We not only trust in God.....we trust in His warnings. We acknowledge our part in what America has become.....a violent.....post-Christian....idolatrous nation....and refuse to say....'make America great again'....if that greatness is not in accordance with the will of Jesus Christ....who has watched all of this.....and may have already summoned His mighty angels....to return and judge this world in righteousness.
I wrote in December of 2016 in a post titled....'Your Mission....Should You Accept It...." that conservative talk radio had been...."our Publius, our Thomas Paine, our Benjamin Franklin, and our John Locke transmogrified into waves of electromagnetic radiation travelling at the speed of light into every kitchen and workroom and automobile in America.....these stellar stars that we navigated by through a perfect storm wrapped in a cosmic disturbance that threatened every foundation laid in the latter half of the eighteenth century....these men and women kept the heat on and the power dry. Their mission now....a much more difficult mission this time....should they accept it....is to bring God into the equation....but first they have to realize that God alone rules in the affairs of men...."
There was no one quite like Rush Limbaugh with his extraordinary ability to structure an argument in a way that not only informs but motivates.....there was no one quite like Sean Hannity with his energy....which amazed me for more than a few years as he did not only his radio and television shows but was the force behind rallies that supported our military at a time when they needed it most.....and there was no one quite like Mark Levin putting words on paper....(Liberty And Tyranny etc.).....where he was both profound and perspicuous. There were more than these three.....and Steve Bannon was like a string of fireworks until he moved directly to the campaign.....but these three men directed a grand and victorious war that culminated in the Battle of November 8, 2016. Over the years previous they remained determined through times of defeat....and were aggressive during the battle.....but inexplicably....almost unfathomably.....they totally collapsed......even surrendered....in victory!
What I was saying in that December, 2016 post was that the victory was won.....now was the time to build upon a strong foundation....in fact the only foundation.....reverence for our creator. I actually thought that they might do that.....but I was wrong. At the time....whether in previous victories or defeats....we conservatives had defended the high ground....but apparently the Trump victory parties were down below.....so we hurried down so as not to miss anything exciting....and never went back up that hill.
It's possible that I was naive in this because I had never actually joined in with this Trump train. I was never enraptured by what I saw. I celebrated on election day.....but I never considered it a new army to belong to or Donald Trump a new leader to follow. As far as I was concerned we were still constitutional conservatives who had found a man who could take the battle to the enemy....and now it was time to continue to do what we had been doing.
These same conservative radio hosts squeaked a little as they nervously fidgeted in their chairs when Ivanka and Jared were brought in the White House.....and they shuffled their stack of stuff a little loudly when other swamp creatures were brought in.....but by the time President Trump was endorsing Luther Strange.....all the discernment....and all the fight.....of over two decades....was gone.....and it would be one long slippery slope down into the swamp from then on in.
As it stands today conservative talk radio has utterly failed us.....but it would not be wise nor right to forget how it was they that held us together for so long. It's my opinion that they may eventually see who Donald Trump turned out to be.....but as I mentioned above.....I had been wrong before. We shall see.
It would benefit us to remind ourselves that as important as conservative talk radio once was to us....they are not gods to us....and we do not have to automatically believe every word that they say.....and that the very powers of scrutiny and examination that they helped us develop.....now has to be used towards them. Christians especially should recognize Bunyan's 'enchanted ground' we now find ourselves living on that has made us drowsy....and then recall our own mission with the orders of...."Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober."
