Nature of the Medium of Talk Radio Americans today are awash in news

Talk radio is not a new phenomenon, but the nature of the medium has changed in recent years in two regards--there are more talk radio stations, and more of them are devoted to hosts who could be described as right-wing than left-wing. Politicians noticed the shift especially with the rise in popularity of Rush Limbaugh. A report by the Wall Street Journal found that there were 200 talk radio stations in the U.S. in 1988 and some 1,000 today. One out of six Americans now listens to talk radio regularly, and half the country tunes in at least once a week for an hour or more. According to a 1993 TimesMirror poll, 44 percent of Americans report that talk radio is their primary source for political news. Political leaders noted these figures and the fact that Rush Limbaugh had a weekly audience of 20 million people on 660 stations across the country, and they changed their attitude toward appearing on his show and on the shows of other hosts:

He used to be mocked and dismissed. While his critics still carp, he has been busy appearing as a panelist on NBC's very establishment "Meet the Press," the oldest program on TV, as well as ABC's "This Week With David Brinkley." Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently called Limbaugh to explain the Mexican peso bailout to him so he might promote it to his listeners as well as viewers of daily syndicated TV show (Murdock PG).

The success of the new right-wing talk shows brought out a variety of critics who commented

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d in Corpus Christi, Texas. Stern and his on-air colleague imitated Hispanic accents in making fun of the singer and her fans. A report on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram quotes Stern as follows: "This music does absolutely nothing for me. Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul. . . Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth." Stern is supposed to have further poked fun at mourners. Hispanic leaders in Dallas threatened to boycott businesses that advertise on the show, and are considering complaining to the Federal Communications Commission (Asin www.HCI.com). Sandy Wells describes the rise of Stern as a series of contradictions. On the one hand, Stern claims to be--and seems to be--a family man dedicated to his wife and children. On the other hand, he has risen to prominence through sexual innuendo of the most blatant sort: The fact is that Stern has committed horrible acts to get where he is today. No radio personality has built his following by so determinedly negating his competitors. Stern is cruel, and there's no escaping it. He also doesn't play fair. He breaks the rules and gets away with it. He says things that are unspeakable and gets away with that too. If rock music once horrified p

Category: Psychology - N