Bob Vila's Hammer's Journal: Liberal Radio Required?

I am writing in my journal today in response to an article that was posted on cnn.com that pertained to the need for a

• Liberal Radio Station.

I just couldn't understand the need for this type of outlet because first I think politics are prevalent enough throughout the media and second I think as well that liberal points of view are already represented fairly. My observation is that maybe the Conservative media seems concentrated because it is isolated and non-mainstreamed. The problem I had with the article is this, that the Liberals, as they call themselves, would consider the need for a venue to portray their opinions and beliefs as a response to what is currently going on in the Conservative arena. Well the question they didn't answer in the article is "What is going on?" and the fact alone that they didn't address that question is evidence of poor objectivity in todays politically ingratiated media market.

I see very little going on at present within the Conservative outposts of the media. Granted I know of a few so called conservative related political shows, but overall I don't think it would be fair to say that the entire media or a major portion of it could be construed or described as (politically) conservatively oriented. Which is why I disagree with the statements made in the article. I don't observe political shows, I observe entertaining shows.

In response to this statement:

• "There are so many right-wing talk shows, we think it's created a hole in the market you could drive a truck through."

There are shows that are right-wing and conservative, but they are not so numerous as to skew the broadcasts of the entire nation. And their popularity has been attributed only to their entertainment value. The fact that people observe these shows is evidence enough that when it comes down to it - whether you are conservative or liberal - it is all just entertainment. And this is a characteristic of our broadcast media at its fundamental root, that it is a business and it is about money.

In response to the statement:

• "Part of the impetus for this angry conservative bent of talk radio is the notion that the press is unfair, that it's part of a liberal establishment conspiracy," said Tom Rosenstiel, director for the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

I would argue the point that media - which has been heavily referenced as being a liberal market - really isn't as political as the article would have me believe. Be it most of todays stars and iconic figures surrounding the world of media are from point of perspectives liberal and democratic - which has been proven during various political campaigns. But the bottom line is money. Business. Media stars are wealthy, they contribute money to powerful political figures whom are of alike conformity and opinion (most of the time) to themselves, empowering them with the ability to campaign. And in that vein, being directly connected to the media orientation, their priorities are passed further along than say, maybe a single vote. But where is the connection? Where the money is.

In my opinion, I think people only watch what they want to watch and they watch certain conservative shows because they are entertaining - which doesn't necessarily imply their politcal views. That this response to a quadrant of the media is a complete overreaction and the so called "need" for a left winged oriented network is only a "want" based on business or monetary success, and it shouldn't be sold in any other way.

The reason I so disagree with this article is that it presupposes that the media is a liberal market, and that this new injunction of a network will somehow even out the scales of the media message that has been skewed by popular conservative networks/programs. Well if that is true, and basically I don't believe it is, why does Jon Sinton have any issues or concerns at all? The "balance" is equivocated in the article by means of ignoring any sort of objectivity whatsoever on the part of the reasons for this network. If the so called "liberal" media wants to make it fair, why react so intensely to something that isn't unfair?

Because of money (greed).

The Article

[Bob Vila's Hammer]

Liberal radio network planned Tuesday, February 18, 2003 Posted: 1:02 AM EST (0602 GMT) [Venture capitalists are talking with comedian and author Al Franken about working with the network.] Venture capitalists are talking with comedian and author Al Franken about working with the network. Story Tools [Save a link to this article and return to it at www.savethis.com] [Save a link to this article and return to it at www.savethis.com] [Email a link to this article] [Email a link to this article] [Printer-friendly version of this article] [Printer-friendly version of this article] [View a list of the most popular articles on our site] [View a list of the most popular articles on our site] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Venture capitalists from Chicago are behind an effort to start a liberal-leaning radio network that would offer an alternative to conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh. "We believe this is a tremendous business opportunity," Atlanta radio executive Jon Sinton said Monday. Sinton, who would be the network's chief executive, added, "There are so many right-wing talk shows, we think it's created a hole in the market you could drive a truck through." The group, led by Anita Drobny, consists of investors who have financially supported Democratic candidates. Hoping to start the network by this fall, they are talking with comedian and author Al Franken about working with the network and hope to attract other entertainers and political guests. Their group will be called AnShell Media L.L.C. and they are initially investing $10 million while hoping for assistance from like-minded entrepreneurs. Sinton said those who lean to the right are great at haranguing Bill and Hillary Clinton, but those who lean left have better connections to the entertainment world in Hollywood and New York. "We want to take an issue and make it funny and engaging," he said. "Our intent is to engage and entertain as a way to enlighten, engage in skit comedy, parody, political satire." Sinton said earlier programs have failed because they were placed in time slots between more conservative programming and weren't entertaining enough. Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo also tried his hand at a liberal-oriented talk show. Sinton said he's confident he can come up with solid content for his network. "The really tough thing in the post-consolidation era of radio, is getting good distribution," he said. "My business strategy is that there are underperforming radio stations in all the markets. These underperforming stations are looking for a compelling broadcast day." While questions have been raised about who could be host on a liberal talk show, the bigger question may be the difficulty of mobilizing an audience for such a show. "Part of the impetus for this angry conservative bent of talk radio is the notion that the press is unfair, that it's part of a liberal establishment conspiracy," said Tom Rosenstiel, director for the Project for Excellence in Journalism. Communications specialist Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who was involved in a study of talk radio in the mid 1990s, said the conservative radio audience is easier to mobilize because it is more likely to see liberals as very distant from their own views. And there are more people in polls who identify themselves as conservative than identify themselves as liberal. A sign of the liberal dilemma is the codeword that they like to use to describe themselves these days -- "progressive" -- which allows them to avoid the word "liberal," which has become almost an epithet when used by conservative politicians and pundits. "The search for the liberal equivalent of Rush Limbaugh may be misunderstanding how Limbaugh starts from a natural advantage," said Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. "His audience is already polarized. The liberals don't need a host, they need a different audience."