Pundits, liberals vs. conservatives (1 Viewer)

[UtahBill]

Aren't there a lot more conservative pundits than liberal pundits on the airwaves?
Why is that?
I have an idea or two, but would like to hear from the rest of DP....

 

[Cold Highway]

Cons typically dominate radio and Libs dominate TV its just the way it is.

 

[UtahBill]

Cons typically dominate radio and Libs dominate TV its just the way it is.

Disregarding that one favors radio and the other TV, isn't it true that there are more CONS?
I would think that the radio crowd, tho, would have a larer audience. Most of us work during the day, watch TV in the evening, when there is competition from other TV shows. Radio is either music or politics, for the most part, and bosses will tolerate a radio being on in the workplace a lot quicker than a boob tube..

 

[Harshaw]

No idea why there are more conservatives on the radio. Of course, NPR is thoroughly liberal and has been on the air for a long, long time. with great success.

I think the biggest problem with Air America, and ultimately why it failed, is because its own hosts never took it seriously as a medium. Whatever you think about Limbaugh, he lives and breathes radio. He loves radio for itself. I've never gotten that impression from any of the liberal radio hosts. Especially when it was so clear that their shows were responses to conservatism and not shows for their own sakes. "The O'Franken Factor," as a title, speaks volumes toward that. And most of what I heard from the rest of Air America were basically a series of potshots at Limbaugh and other conservatives. If you're letting the other side define the game to that extent, you've already lost.

The only Air America host who ever did seem to get radio, and had a shot, was Randi Rhodes, but she finally cracked under the weight of her own nastiness.

 

[Barbbtx]

I can't even find liberal talk anymore. No biggie. They were horrible and I just couldn't take it. I think Randi Rhodes was the last one I tried to listen to. Can't really explain it since I watch MSNBC and they are pretty hateful too.
I think Cons. Talk is so popular because we have so few other outlets. I can find talk radio almost any time of the day or night except weekends. Rush is the best because he doesn't listen to other talk radio. He's out there by himself and not tempted to react to news the same way the rest are.
In my opinion there are a couple reasons Lib. Talk fails everytime. One, there is so much other liberal media, there is no market for it. Another reason is they are just mean and hateful to Republicans and liberals can do nothing wrong in their eyes. At least that's been my experience.

 

[Your Star]

I can't even find liberal talk anymore. No biggie. They were horrible and I just couldn't take it. I think Randi Rhodes was the last one I tried to listen to. Can't really explain it since I watch MSNBC and they are pretty hateful too.
I think Cons. Talk is so popular because we have so few other outlets. I can find talk radio almost any time of the day or night except weekends. Rush is the best because he doesn't listen to other talk radio. He's out there by himself and not tempted to react to news the same way the rest are.
In my opinion there are a couple reasons Lib. Talk fails everytime. One, there is so much other liberal media, there is no market for it. Another reason is they are just mean and hateful to Republicans and liberals can do nothing wrong in their eyes. At least that's been my experience.

The same could be said about Con. talk radio.

I really don't know why radio is full of conservative shows. Something to do with the medium, not the right liberal host getting shows. Could be with the controversial nature of the host and the subjects that get everyone tuning in, not just conservatives.

 

[Barbbtx]

The same could be said about Con. talk radio.

I really don't know why radio is full of conservative shows. Something to do with the medium, not the right liberal host getting shows. Could be with the controversial nature of the host and the subjects that get everyone tuning in, not just conservatives.

I really don't get where liberals think talk radio is mean and hateful. Do you ever listen? If so, do you ever listen for any length of time? Who do you listen to?
There is one guy, Mark Levin (The Great One) who comes off that way,GET OFF MY PHONE YA BIG DOPE! but he's really a nice guy.

 

[Your Star]

I really don't get where liberals think talk radio is mean and hateful. Do you ever listen? If so, do you ever listen for any length of time? Who do you listen to?
There is one guy, Mark Levin (The Great One) who comes off that way,GET OFF MY PHONE YA BIG DOPE! but he's really a nice guy.

I listen occasionally because my parents listen to it. Alot of Hannity, and most of the time they don't paint liberals in a nice way. They don't go about saying that they respect the ideological differences of people who disagree with them. It's the same mean, and disrespectful talk you talk about. I don't know maybe because you agree with them you can filter that out. Watch Real Time with Bill Maher, and maybe you'll understand where I'm coming from. The one guy I do listen too is Neal Boortz, I don't really agree with him on most things, but I find him funny.

 

[LizardofOz]

I think it has a lot to do with how blunt, and clear the message is, that and most younger people don't even get AM radio stations in regards to talk radio. I think with most talk radio, it doesn't hurt if you are pretentious, preachy, and think your **** don't stink either. Personally me, I listen to Bob and Tom when I get the chance and they seem to hate everybody equally (and well it isn't political at all).

I think with TV there is very few extremes other than MSNBC and Fox News, the rest of it can go either way or be down the middle really.

 

[prrriiide]

Of course, NPR is thoroughly liberal and has been on the air for a long, long time. with great success.

Do you ever listen to NPR? I ask, because I do. I listen because I find their news programs (All Things Considered and Morning Edition) to be rigidly non-biased and non-partisan. They are, actually, what any media outlet should aspire to be: a purveyor of facts. In all of the years I have listened (more than I'd like to admit on a public forum...), I have never detected liberal bias. I think that they get tarred with that boad brush because they address issues - freedom of expression and the arts, freedom of speech and burning the flag, and other hot-button issues - in a detached manner without giving an an opinion of the right-ness or wrong-ness of either side of the issue. They give the viewpoints of both the artist and those that consider the "art" to be blasphemous trash; the flag burner and those that would burn him instead. I like that there is a marked international feel to it, almost like listening to the BBC, CBC, or ABC talk about American affairs. I find it very refreshing. I don't feel like I need a shower the way I do after listening to Hannity or Olbermann.

 

[Mustachio]

I find the comment "Mark Levin is a really nice guy" to be very funny. A week or so ago, he had a guy call in who said "I'm a huge fan, I'd love to buy you lunch one day and have a chat," and Levin responded with "I eat alone." He's about as mean as any human being could possibly be, at least on his show he is. I doubt he's like that. However, he's very good at what he does. Medved is another guy who's really good at what he does, and he's about as mild as the Republicans come. Savage is decent, but he's wayyyy too angry and hateful for me to listen to him. And Limbaugh is another guy who's a great radio personality but a completely venomous jerk.

I'm a liberal but I can't listen to lib radio. Not because they're too mean, but because they're just not very good at hosting radio shows. Ed Schultz is an exception, he's fantastic and I don't think he's the least bit hateful. He's passionate, but you can always tell that he's lashing out at ideas and not people, and he says so much. Franken was a terrific host when he did his show, but I know he never really found his audience. Some of the debates he had with G. Gordon Liddy were absolutely legendary.

You also have to remember that older demographics are radio's primary target. Democrats who are really into politics are all about internet media and many of them don't even listen to the radio when they drive. Rush's audience is a bunch of retired couples and mechanics and truck drivers and that sort of thing. Those people will die soon, and talk radio will probably die with them.

And for fairness' sake, I'll mention that today I was listening to Levin and couldn't take it anymore, so I turned it to the Air America affiliate and the guy was talking about how he was excitedly anticipating Glenn Beck's death. On both sides of the aisle, these guys get paid for being vicious. And if you want really scary, listen to the armed radio network or whatever it's called on Sundays. The last time I listened to the show, they had a long discussion about when it would be appropriate for citizen militias to raid the White House and kill Obama and his administration. The consensus was "not quite yet."

 

[Barbbtx]

I listen occasionally because my parents listen to it. Alot of Hannity, and most of the time they don't paint liberals in a nice way. They don't go about saying that they respect the ideological differences of people who disagree with them. It's the same mean, and disrespectful talk you talk about. I don't know maybe because you agree with them you can filter that out. Watch Real Time with Bill Maher, and maybe you'll understand where I'm coming from. The one guy I do listen too is Neal Boortz, I don't really agree with him on most things, but I find him funny.

Maybe we are getting somewhere here.
No one on talk paints liberals in a good way. They're is almost nothing they agree with them on, so they aren't going to go out of their way to look for something good to say. However, they don't do a bunch of name calling and commenting on people's weight, former drug/alchohol problems, sex lives, education, hairstyles etc. I'm not saying never, just that it's not common. On the other hand Air America (seemed to me) would attack the right on all those , plus they would constantly call them liars, hatemongers, fearmongers etc. The whole thing seemed to be based on insulting the right as much as you could in time allowed.
Conservative talk is usually based on talking about what's going on in politics that day and the polititcians themselves. Of course they also have to talk about what the left said about them the day before.

 

[Barbbtx]

I find the comment "Mark Levin is a really nice guy" to be very funny. A week or so ago, he had a guy call in who said "I'm a huge fan, I'd love to buy you lunch one day and have a chat," and Levin responded with "I eat alone." He's about as mean as any human being could possibly be, at least on his show he is. I doubt he's like that. However, he's very good at what he does. Medved is another guy who's really good at what he does, and he's about as mild as the Republicans come. Savage is decent, but he's wayyyy too angry and hateful for me to listen to him. And Limbaugh is another guy who's a great radio personality but a completely venomous jerk.

I'm a liberal but I can't listen to lib radio. Not because they're too mean, but because they're just not very good at hosting radio shows. Ed Schultz is an exception, he's fantastic and I don't think he's the least bit hateful. He's passionate, but you can always tell that he's lashing out at ideas and not people, and he says so much. Franken was a terrific host when he did his show, but I know he never really found his audience. Some of the debates he had with G. Gordon Liddy were absolutely legendary.

You also have to remember that older demographics are radio's primary target. Democrats who are really into politics are all about internet media and many of them don't even listen to the radio when they drive. Rush's audience is a bunch of retired couples and mechanics and truck drivers and that sort of thing. Those people will die soon, and talk radio will probably die with them.

And for fairness' sake, I'll mention that today I was listening to Levin and couldn't take it anymore, so I turned it to the Air America affiliate and the guy was talking about how he was excitedly anticipating Glenn Beck's death. On both sides of the aisle, these guys get paid for being vicious. And if you want really scary, listen to the armed radio network or whatever it's called on Sundays. The last time I listened to the show, they had a long discussion about when it would be appropriate for citizen militias to raid the White House and kill Obama and his administration. The consensus was "not quite yet."

The first time I heard Mark Levin, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'd never heard that much yelling and rudeness on radio before. I thought, who the hell is this jerk(must be a lib) just kiddin' Anyway, honestly, he is a very sensitive, intelligent, nice guy who has a low tolerance for ignorance, dishonesty, or well to be brutally honest, liberals in general.
Medved, he's Ok
Savage I can't stand to listen to. Way too mean and he talks too much about nothing. I think the man could talk an hour about what was on his plate at lunch.
Ed Shultz I watch on TV. He is absolutely hateful in my opinion. Sorry, but he's sometimes meaner than Olbermann and Maddow.
I never heard of armed radio but doesn't sound like I'd like it.

 

[Your Star]

Maybe we are getting somewhere here.
No one on talk paints liberals in a good way. They're is almost nothing they agree with them on, so they aren't going to go out of their way to look for something good to say. However, they don't do a bunch of name calling and commenting on people's weight, former drug/alchohol problems, sex lives, education, hairstyles etc. I'm not saying never, just that it's not common. On the other hand Air America (seemed to me) would attack the right on all those , plus they would constantly call them liars, hatemongers, fearmongers etc. The whole thing seemed to be based on insulting the right as much as you could in time allowed.
Conservative talk is usually based on talking about what's going on in politics that day and the polititcians themselves. Of course they also have to talk about what the left said about them the day before.

I think alot of it is either, not getting a joke, or just bad comedy. I never listened to Air America, so I got nothing really to compare the right too on the radio side. But I do watch alot of Bill Maher, and I often hear people take what he meant as a joke seriously. To be honest, I don't get alot of right wing humor, and I'm thinking it might be the same for the other side.That might be why you think of the left personally attacking the right. Watch some Bill Maher stand up for some examples. I don't know, but I'm guessing the host on Air America just weren't that good at radio.

 

[Barbbtx]

Do you ever listen to NPR? I ask, because I do. I listen because I find their news programs (All Things Considered and Morning Edition) to be rigidly non-biased and non-partisan. They are, actually, what any media outlet should aspire to be: a purveyor of facts. In all of the years I have listened (more than I'd like to admit on a public forum...), I have never detected liberal bias. I think that they get tarred with that boad brush because they address issues - freedom of expression and the arts, freedom of speech and burning the flag, and other hot-button issues - in a detached manner without giving an an opinion of the right-ness or wrong-ness of either side of the issue. They give the viewpoints of both the artist and those that consider the "art" to be blasphemous trash; the flag burner and those that would burn him instead. I like that there is a marked international feel to it, almost like listening to the BBC, CBC, or ABC talk about American affairs. I find it very refreshing. I don't feel like I need a shower the way I do after listening to Hannity or Olbermann.

I finally found it on my radio thanks to a poster on DP. It was on FM duh. My radio never had a reason to get switched from AM.
So, Ok, I listened a little one day. It was just news. I got bored. I still remember where it is so maybe I'll try it again.
I always heard it leaned to the left. I know Juan Williams is on there. I like him. Do you know if he has his own show?

 

[prrriiide]

I finally found it on my radio thanks to a poster on DP. It was on FM duh. My radio never had a reason to get switched from AM.
So, Ok, I listened a little one day. It was just news. I got bored. I still remember where it is so maybe I'll try it again.
I always heard it leaned to the left. I know Juan Williams is on there. I like him. Do you know if he has his own show?

Don't know about Juan Williams. The NPR format is a lot different than most people realize. Most of the stations are associated with a university. There is a mix of local and syndicated programming. WNCW out of Ashville has a heavy bluegrass component to it. WUOT in Knoxville has a lot of jazz programming. Most stations have a heavy classical rotation. There are some shows on the weekends like Car Talk with Click and Clack - The Tappet Brothers, From the Top, and others. I listen more for the news than anything else though. Morning Edition runs from 5 am -9 am in my market, and All Things Considered runs from 4 pm - 6:30 pm. You can find your local times and station IDhere. You local station's web site will usually have complete local listings as well as a streaming feature.

 

[VanceMack]

Frankly I think its all generational. Old folks still watch network news (Im talking pretty much anyone 65 or older) and thats the only thing that keeps network news afloat. When the next generation of old folks come around they will be more computer and cable savvy. At that point I think you will see a balancing of the left/right media on both radio and cable news. Network news will be toast.

 

[goodybags88]

Cons dominate wherever their is money to be made.

Hence cons dominate conventional media which of course used to make lots of money.

Nowadays the more Liberal web is taking over.

UK Politics Forum

 

[Harshaw]

Do you ever listen to NPR? I ask, because I do. I listen because I find their news programs (All Things Considered and Morning Edition) to be rigidly non-biased and non-partisan. They are, actually, what any media outlet should aspire to be: a purveyor of facts. In all of the years I have listened (more than I'd like to admit on a public forum...), I have never detected liberal bias. I think that they get tarred with that boad brush because they address issues - freedom of expression and the arts, freedom of speech and burning the flag, and other hot-button issues - in a detached manner without giving an an opinion of the right-ness or wrong-ness of either side of the issue. They give the viewpoints of both the artist and those that consider the "art" to be blasphemous trash; the flag burner and those that would burn him instead. I like that there is a marked international feel to it, almost like listening to the BBC, CBC, or ABC talk about American affairs. I find it very refreshing. I don't feel like I need a shower the way I do after listening to Hannity or Olbermann.

I have listened to NPR nearly daily for 25 years (though job demands have made it harder recently). In fact, of radio, it's 90% of what I listen to.

While thoughtful and professional and very good at what they do, they are thoroughly liberal.

 

[UtahBill]

I have listened to NPR nearly daily for 25 years (though job demands have made it harder recently). In fact, of radio, it's 90% of what I listen to.

While thoughtful and professional and very good at what they do, they are thoroughly liberal.

IMO, they are typically more subtle about their bias.... And too often boring....

 

[Donc]

Most of my listening on the road is xm, as is most truck drivers I talk to. On fm I listen to either music or npr, click and clack being one of my favs.

 

[mpg]

Is this about talk radio? If so, it's easy to see why it's dominated by conservatives and Republicans. The MSM is dominated by liberals and Democrats so ordinary folks on the left don't feel like their voices aren't being heard and don't have the urge to speak up. Talk radio merely taps into the frustration of conservatives.

 

[Grim17]

Here's my impressions of the conservative talk hosts:

Boortz and Medved are ok, but I don't catch their shows that often. Mark Levin is on of the most intelligent and knowledgeable people on the radio. He knows the law and the constitution like no other, but his temper and inability to carry on a civil conversation with callers is irritating. Sean Hannity is ok, but very redundant. He harps on the same things day in and day out. Rush Limbaugh I like because he has really knows his stuff. He can tell you what something that has happened means, days and even weeks before the meaning ever surfaces. He really knows how Washington politics works. For serious issues, he's the one to turn to. Savage is too "know it all" for my tastes, and he sometimes goes off on rants that I just can't relate to. I only listen to him when I'm very, very board.

This leaves me with my favorite 2 conservative talkers. One of them is Glenn Beck. The reason I like Beck's show is because of his 2 co-hosts, Pat and Stu. When you put the 3 of them together, they are hilarious. They mix serious political issues with comedy and that's what makes his show a winner to me. Believe it or not though, my favorite conservative talker is someone you don't hear much about... It's Fox's John Gibson. It's funny, topical and he interacts with callers like no other. In fact, the majority of his callers are liberals and democrats, which makes for a very interesting show. I recommend that everyone give it a listen if you have never heard his show before.

 

[Barbbtx]

Most of my listening on the road is xm, as is most truck drivers I talk to. On fm I listen to either music or npr, click and clack being one of my favs.

Do you ever listen to, I think it's called the midnight trucker show with hosts Eric umm somebody and ummm somebody else, maybe Gary. Geeze I feel stupid... Anyway I do listen sometimes before I go to sleep. When they talk politics I really do enjoy them.

 

[FilmFestGuy]

I really don't get where liberals think talk radio is mean and hateful. Do you ever listen? If so, do you ever listen for any length of time? Who do you listen to?
There is one guy, Mark Levin (The Great One) who comes off that way,GET OFF MY PHONE YA BIG DOPE! but he's really a nice guy.

Michael Savage told a caller to "get AIDS and die".

That's not mean at all, right?

Limbaugh says non-profit organization employees are "lazy idiots" and "rapists in terms of finance and economy" | Media Matters for America

And, uh - let's see: the other day Rush Limbaugh called me (as an employee of a not-for-profit) a "fat, lazy idiot" and a "rapist, in terms of the economy".

Mean and hateful much?

Of course, the irony is that this guy who probably weighs at least 100 pounds more than I do, and works three-five hours a day vs. the 80-90 I work from February to May (35, rest of the year). Oh, and the economic impact of what I do is a little more than $1,000,000 annually - the equivalent of creating 31 full-time jobs (not counting the 3 full-time staff at our office and the fact that less than 12% of our expenditures are on salary annually.

So, yeah - I think it's pretty mean and hateful - not to mention that it's a lie not based in fact.