Wow. This guy whines even more than you and he makes no more sense than you.
On Nov 17, 4:35 am, "mike [move on] 532" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Former News Radio Staffer Spills the Beans on How Shock Jocks Inspire > Hatred and Angerhttp://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/107326/ > I first got into journalism because I thought I could make a > difference. > > I wrote for the school newspaper and did “news” reports on a radio > station a friend and I started at my high school in Springfield, Mo. I > got my first professional job at age 20, while still in college, at a > local radio station’s news department. Three years later, I became a > news director, and 12 years after that, in 1995, I was recruited to > move to Milwaukee to become news director at WTMJ, one of the largest > and most successful news/talk radio stations in America. > > That was where my real education occurred. > > I worked for three years as news director, and then, in 1998, gained > the additional title of assistant program director, a role I held > until leaving the station in July 2006. From that position, I worked > closely with our talk show hosts and became intimately familiar with > how they appeal to listeners and shape their vision of the world. Let > me tell you some of the lessons I learned. > > 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. > > In the talk radio business, this concept, which must be mastered to be > successful, is called “differentiating” yourself from the rest of the > media. It is a brilliant marketing tactic that has also helped Fox > News Channel thrive. “We report, you decide” and “Fair and Balanced” > are more than just savvy slogans. They are code words signaling that > only Fox will report the news in a way conservatives see as objective > and truthful. > > Forget any notion, however, that radio talk shows are supposed to be > fair, evenhanded discussions featuring a diversity of opinions. The > Fairness Doctrine, which required this, was repealed 20 years ago. So > talk shows can be, and are, all about the host’s opinions, analyses > and general worldview. Programmers learned long ago that benign > conversations led by hosts who present all sides of an issue don’t > attract large audiences. That’s why Kathleen Dunn was forced out at > WTMJ in the early ’90s and why Jim and Andee were replaced in the > mid-’90s by Dr. Laura. Pointed and provocative are what win. > > There is no way to win a disagreement with Charlie Sykes. Calls from > listeners who disagree with him don’t get on the air if the show’s > producer, who generally does the screening, fears they might make > Charlie look bad. I witnessed several occasions when Sen. Russ > Feingold, former Mayor John Norquist, Mayor Tom Barrett or others > would call in, but wouldn’t be allowed on the air. > > 12345Next page » --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
