Right-Wingers Are on the Defensive About Talk Radio Dominance (AlterNet)

[marmar]

Right-Wingers Are on the Defensive About Talk Radio Dominance

By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted June 29, 2007.



A new report by the Center for American Progress and the Free Press has the right up-in-arms. Its message: right-wingers' dominance of talkradio is a classic market failure.

On its face, quantifying the conservative domination of talk-radio is about as valuable as studying the leftward lean in women's studies departments at American universities. The conventional wisdom is that during the 1980s, talk-radio tapped into a substantial group of angry, white and mostly male listeners who blamed their perceived loss of influence on what they believed were real powers in American society: feminists, gays, black kids applying for affirmative action programs and potty-mouthed Hollywood screenwriters. It was a niche market -- AM radio was a dying format waiting for an infusion of energy -- and the Limbaughs and Hannitys gave the people what they wanted.

But if that were all there was to the phenomenon, a new report by the Center for American Progress and the Free Press on right-wing talk's domination of the airwaves wouldn't be causing as much chagrin among conservative commentators as it has. The report, (PDF), "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio," is stirring up the right-wing squawkers because its analysis flies in the face of conventional wisdom; Right-wing talk doesn't dominate AM radio because of the magical hand of a functional free market, it dominates thanks to multiple market failures. Even worse, those failures represent a strong case for better regulation of what goes out on the public's airwaves.

The report contrasts the amount of right-wing talk -- nine out of every ten hours broadcast on talk-radio is exclusively conservative -- with a talk-radio audience that, according to Pew Research, identifies itself as follows: forty-three percent of regular talk radio listeners are conservative, while "23 percent identify as liberal and 30 percent as moderate." In other words, fewer than half of those listening to some of the most feverish voices on the right are themselves self-identified conservatives.

The report also shows that in markets where progressive and liberal talk has proven itself to be competitive, conservative programming still dominates the airwaves. The authors note: "lthough there is a clear demand and proven success of progressive talk" in these markets, "station owners still elect to stack the airwaves with one-sided broadcasting." In radio, the "market" simply isn't meeting consumers' tastes.

That observation is what has so many on the right up in arms about the report (the Center for American Progress reports that they have never received such "vitriol" following the publication of previous studies). The report found evidence to support what critics of media concentration have long maintained: that for some media owners, advancing a series of political narratives can be just as much in their interest as a healthy bottom line ever was. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/55269/

[Demeter]

1. Unbelievable. GOP Is Happy with Talk Radio

They want to dominate the public fora. They really don't care about anything else. They want to shout the world into submission. And there is not one shred of care for markets in the Right Wing, either. They just pervert the concept with public lip service and private deals and double standards all around.

[Joanne98]

2. I can see why the "talkers" on the right are upset.. If this ever gets

investigated, it will prove that "advertisers" are just buying time to spred the "RW free market" propoganda! All the cartels do it. Like how BP, ADM and Boeing pay for commerials they don't need. It's just to control the airwaves. It has nothing to do with selling their products. In fact, it should be classified as political advertising. Because that's what it really is. Except for a tiny group of people, everybody hates RW talk radio. Most people listen because there's nothing else. I expect more FAKE outrage from Hannity. He's protecting a pretty big secret. He's a liar and he sucks. Wouldn't want that to become official.

[Uncle Joe]

3. Here's more

"Conservatives like Jonah Goldberg and Michelle Malkin have argued -- falsely -- that the report calls for the enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine. The authors, in fact, are very clear about the fact that the Fairness Doctrine would not address the issue, and never called for its enforcement (contrary to popular belief, it was never repealed).

What the report does call for is restoring local and national caps on media ownership -- limits on how many stations can be owned by one large firm -- more local input into licensing decisions and a renewed commitment to enforceable and fair public interest rules.

At the end of the day, those things shouldn't be left versus right; there are certainly an abundance of issues that concern the grass-roots of the conservative movement that the media won't cover.

But that's only true if one begins with the premise that the media has an important role in keeping the electorate informed. At the end of the day, that's the antithesis of right-wing talk."

Thanks for the thread marmar

Kicked and recommended.