Interesting: Former RW Talk Radio director reveals secrets of hate radio success

[asthmaticeog]

http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/currentIssue/full_feature_story.asp?NewMessageID=24046&pf=yes

To begin with, talk show hosts such as Charlie Sykes – one of the best in the business – are popular and powerful because they appeal to a segment of the population that feels disenfranchised and even victimized by the media. These people believe the media are predominantly staffed by and consistently reflect the views of social liberals. This view is by now so long-held and deep-rooted, it has evolved into part of virtually every conservative’s DNA.

To succeed, a talk show host must perpetuate the notion that his or her listeners are victims, and the host is the vehicle by which they can become empowered. The host frames virtually every issue in us-versus-them terms. There has to be a bad guy against whom the host will emphatically defend those loyal listeners.

This enemy can be a politician – either a Democratic officeholder or, in rare cases where no Democrat is convenient to blame, it can be a “RINO” (a “Republican In Name Only,” who is deemed not conservative enough). It can be the cold, cruel government bureaucracy. More often than not, however, the enemy is the “mainstream media” – local or national, print or broadcast.

Sometimes, it can even be their own station’s news director. One year, Charlie targeted me because I had instructed my midday news anchor to report the Wimbledon tennis results, even though the matches wouldn’t be telecast until much later in the day. Charlie gave out my phone number and e-mail address on the air. I was flooded with hate mail, nasty messages, and even one death threat from a federal law enforcement agent whom I knew to be a big Charlie fan.

More at link, naturally.

[ben_meyers]

1. Charlie Sykes? WHO!!

one of the best in the business? I've never heard of him, but whatever.

[dragonlady]

4. He's one of the right-wing talkers in Milwaukee

Used to call himself "a recovering liberal."

[123infinity]

2. Uh, those aren't secrets.

:shrug:
:-)

[baldguy]

8. Hitler understood these tactics in the 1920s

[Overseas]

3. Helpful to understand right wing rhetorical tacticts. //nt

[Democat]

5. Right wingers are always playing victim!

Immigrants are stealing their jobs, black guys are stealing their women, women are stealing their manhood, poor people are stealing their welfare payments, etc.

There is no group that plays the victim better than right wingers.

[obiwan]

6. You can't find any liberal talk radio in the Midwest to save your soul.

All there is on talk radio is conservative or paleoconservative. Small wonder the Midwest is a cesspool of recidivism. RW's there still psychologically walk on all fours, and their critical thinking skills are nearly nonexistant or not present at all.

I spent most of my childhood and much of my adolescence in the Midwest and Plains States, and believe me, it's almost impossible to escape this primitive mindset. It's no place for a critical thinker, and I got out at my earliest opportunity.

This isn't meant as a flame job, and I don't want to hurt the feelings of critical thinkers living there. It's just what my experience was.

[Missy Vixen]

7. This explains a few things to me

One of the shining lights of RW radio lives in our hometown. I have a little story about him.

When the Iraq war first started, this bozo bussed hundreds of people into our (tiny) hometown for a "rally" that essentially shut down our business district for the better part of a day. These people were not from our community. They blasted Lee Greenwood, threatened anyone who dared to disagree with them, and were fed and watered for free by the radio station.

I was not involved in, and do not endorse what happened next.

It's a small town. It wasn't difficult for others to find out where Mr. Bozo lived. As a result, he was treated to some (minor) disagreement with his stance. (I heard something about flaming bags of dog poop on the porch, etcetera.) There were no threats, to my immediate knowledge. It was people who disagreed with his comments and his actions, and wanted their opinion known as well.

It seems Mr. Bozo then demanded police protection.

The whole "can't take criticism"? Absolutely. Get them out of the studio and away from their dump button, and they fold like a house of cards.

Julie

[asthmaticeog]

9. Yeah, that sounds about typical.

Legislation to protect workers or minorities is P.C. Nanny Statism, but a flaming bag of poop demands immediate police action for the safety of the public. :eyes: