Talk:Talk radio

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The section "Politically oriented talk radio" perpetuates the false left-right dichotomy in the US. There are alternatives! In June 2005 I added "In 2002 an alternative to the progressive / conservative talk radio dichotomy emerged called Free Talk Live. FTL is the only nationally syndicated "freedom" oriented talk radio that I know of... Please edit and expand on this!

--User:Brer_Vole

Or, perhaps, delete it. Sorry, "Free Talk Live" is obscure by talk radio standards. The show's own website says it airs on 13 over-air stations. [1] And only two or three of those are in markets of any size, usually on lower-rated or non-rated stations. It looks like it might be an interesting show, but basically, no one can hear it. Wikipedia is not, as far as I can tell, a place to publicize a talk radio show. I've also removed at least two other attempts to put obscure or new shows in the same class as programs anyone who listens to talk radio would know. MPWard 19:36, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

I for one don't much like the characterization of Howard Stern as "libertarian"; when he ran for office, he was a big supporter of public schools, public roads, and many other government programs. He ran as a libertarian because it was easy for him to "take over" the state party by flooding it with his fans. The party later disavowed his candidacy. He certainly is a fan of free speech, though, so I can't fault him there. --Lee Daniel Crocker

1 NPOV
2 Jerry Brown
3 Talk Radio: the early days
4 FAIR and NPR's reliance on Republicans

[edit] NPOV

the following was removed for POV slant:

Some political talk radio hosts, such as Alan Berg and Michael Savage, deliberately provoke and antagonize their callers, engaging in shouting matches, putting them on mute, interrupting them frequently, and abrupting hanging up on them.

this needs to be reworded badly. Alkivar 20:51, 26 Nov 2004 (UTC)

the above paragraph is an accurate description to anyone familiar with talk radio, as such it deserves to to be left as-is. It is an abuse of NPOV to remove such an objective description that is not using subjective characterization. User:User

This article is basically a puff piece for a select number of mostly right-wing radio hosts and does not reflect a neutral point of view, nor doe it give accurate information. I'll edit to bring some accuracy and neutrality to it when time allows, but have tagged it as NPOV becuase it is and ask that this tag be let to stand until such time as it can be reworked to meet the standards of neutrality demanded by Wikipedia policy. Calicocat 23:31, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Please do improve the article, but I must say the strong bias you are detecting is not obvious to me--please clarify the grounds for the NPOV dispute. (I believe it is customary to discuss such objections on the talk page before tagging the article.) The success of conservative or right-wing talk hosts in the US is unmistakable, as is their dominance in the field--isn't it? BTfromLA 00:07, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)
- (from RFC) I'm not exactly sure that I see how the US section is biased, really. Talk radio has been hugely important for the right wing and has mostly been a right wing phenomenon, so it seems fair that most of the attention should focus on right-wing talk hosts like Limbaugh. Also, talk radio IS all about personalities -- it would not be a complete article without some discussion of the most prominent ones. Perhaps there should be more information in there about the right-wing talk radio phenomenon as it has impacted political debates and campaigns in the U.S., though. Katefan0 14:15, Mar 27, 2005 (UTC)
- Also from RFC, and I also don't see any prominent POV problems here. My one complaint would be that NPR should have higher placement. At least in my area, NPR affiliates are de facto liberal talk radio for much of the day, although they are much less overt and caustic about it than their right-wing counterparts. Calicocat you're free to add to the section but I don't see any need for the NPOV notice currently. Please name specific problems which you see in the section. Rhobite 19:30, Mar 27, 2005 (UTC)

I would have no complaint about a mention of NPR, but since it's ratings are quite a bit lower than others, I don't see how it can justifiably be made more prominent.69.6.162.160 02:02, 12 June 2006 (UTC)Brian Pearson

[edit] Jerry Brown

In answer to the question about why I removed Jerry Brown (after I'd added him earlier)--it's because it occured to me that his program may have been only on the Pacifica network, hence not really an attempt to penetrate the commercial talk realm the way Cuomo and Hightower were. I thought there were enough names named to make the point and I didn't wan to take time to dig up the details of Brown's radio show, but if you know the history and you think he's an appropriate addition, I'd have no objection to his name being restored. BTfromLA 23:44, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Jerry Brown's program had a limited commercial syndication run, mainly in Northern California. I know for sure it aired on KSTE/650 in the Sacramento market for some time, and I believe it also ran in the Monterey Bay area. Still, I don't believe he garnered many affiliates, and may have only been a regional phenomenon with little impact outside the Northern California region. I think he went to Pacifica after the commercial stations stopped carrying his show. 69.168.179.150 00:34, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Talk Radio: the early days

In the very early 1950's Alan Courtney, who had a long career in New York radio, created in Miami. Florida "The Alan Courtney Open-Phone Forum" which for many years dominated late night radio and enjoyed extraordinarily high ratings. Courtney invited on-air listener comment, employing a 30-second delay system to screen out profanity, and espoused a political Conservatism and anti-Communism which presaged the candidacies of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Alan Courtney did not live to see the fall of the Berlin Wall or the acknowledged collapse of the Soviet. His program reached to Cuba and was a major concern of the castro government.