George Rebane
News Item – Next year commercial talk radio of the liberal bent is slated to completely collapse in the remaining major media markets of New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. The problem is that the audiences for such content are miniscule and diminishing. Leftwing talk radio survives on non-profit outlets such as NPR which are funded through government grants and private donations. (More here, here, and here)
Now anyone who has been a longtime resident of Earth will not be surprised by this news, even though its dissemination has never been a high priority item on the nation’s lamestream outlets. The question worth considering once more is why such talk radio cannot get purchase in commercial markets, why are so few people listening to the collectivist side of the political spectrum when a large and growing number are listening to conservative and libertarian commentators.
To people like me, the answers are simple and straightforward. These answers are also totally rejected by progressives who respond to the asymmetry by their continuing attempts to shut down commercial rightwing talk radio on public airwaves (and now also on private channels) based on sinister yet hilarious arguments of ‘fairness’ and ‘balance’ that completely beg the question of why audiences differ in their preferences for such contents.
My longtime views about the causes for the failure of commercial leftwing radio are –
1. Socialist tenets are prima facie not acceptable to most informed and thinking Americans; they sound silly and contradict common knowledge of human values and behavior.
2. Extolling the virtues of ever bigger government and more taxes on the rich to pay for less performance from more working age people is not a convincing argument when people look at what Washington has attempted to deliver (see graphic below).
3. The presentation of collectivism’s synoptic principles is a tedious narrative that motivates no one to strive for success or go the extra mile. Society advances at its margins, providing new and better products and services at lower costs to greater numbers of people, because that is where the greatest reward for individuals’ performance lies. But that is also where the greatest risk awaits. And because collectivists promise to take more and more of the last dollar that is so difficult to earn, everyone immediately understands why they will not make the effort and expose themselves to unrewarded risk. It’s hard to BS your way through that truth on the radio or anywhere for that matter (even on RR).
4. To liberal talkers the remaining narrative is the eternal recounting of the anecdotal – examples of the elderly couple in dire need of an unaffordable life prolonging procedure, the poor single mother with six kids who doesn’t have a skill that can support her brood, and is also not bright enough to acquire one were the opportunity provided, and so on. Liberal talk radio is simply dreary and unconvincing. Attempting to extol the absent virtues of big government departments like the EPA, Education, Energy, TSA, …, and now HHS is hard to do with a straight face, and even harder to hear. And wanting to do more of the same with higher taxes (‘next time we’ll do it right’) is a blatant joke. This approach quickly wears on even the most receptive and simple of ears.
5. But the most compelling reason for the small audiences is that people, those who succumb to the collectivist siren song but also have the ability and interest to process and communicate information on social issues, make up a very small fraction of our population. Most supporters of liberal causes give little evidence of such talents and propensities.
In spite of the above, my druthers about the future of leftwing talk radio are –
1. It should continue receiving public assistance to keep such programs on the air. Both independent and conservative voters should have ready access to liberal thought and interpretations of events and history, no matter how silly.
2. Wherever possible, the programs should be coupled with conservative talk radio in formats that allow listeners to make comparisons and contrasts. Perhaps such interleavings or pairings will attract sufficient audiences that warrant commercial sponsors.
3. The media outlets for leftwing content are not in danger of disappearing since most of the mainstream media (aka ‘the lamestream’) on TV and in print publications that disseminate news and entertainment – i.e. thought-optional content – are left-leaning. However, the Left’s continued forays to limit and/or extinguish conservative channels remains both expected and disquieting.
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