New name, new direction « SOUTH TEXAS PROGRESS

I’ve purchased a new domain name in hopes of taking this blog in a whole new direction. Tip O’Neil said “All politics is local,” and I’m taking him at his word.

An issue near and dear to my heart these days is talk radio. The buzz about Air America Radio in 2004 began: an entire station devoted to liberal/progressive programming! I’m sooo in. I was introduced to radio novices like Same Seder, Al Franken, and Janeane Garofolo, as well as the seasoned professionals like Randi Rhodes with her acerbic wit, Rachel Maddow with her nerdy (but always interesting) insight on the days top stories, and Katherine Lanpher, a veteran from Minnesota’s Public Radio. I had something to listen too ALL day at work in that gloomy Seattle office.

Air America as a business venture had its ups and downs, and now some of my favorite hosts are gone (Marc Maron), but the idea that liberals could survive in a traditionally conservative market was fantastic. People like Stephanie Miller (daughter of Bill Miller, Barry Goldwater’s 1964 running mate) and Ed Schultz emerged as forces independent of Air America in the radio industry. These days Schultz, Miller, and Randi Rhodes are pulling in great ratings and new listeners that have never heard progressive voices on their AM dial.

Though not my favorite on-air progressive, Ed Schutlz has been killing the “free market” myth of conservative radio domination by beating out Sean Hannity in Denver, Portland, San Diego, and Seattle. As much as naysayers like to say that it’s all about the ratings, they’re way off base. Free speech doesn’t exist in a radio market that forces one-sided information over 90% of the time.

Local stations are no longer operating in the public’s best interests, which is why the Rio Grande Valley doesn’t have a choice when it comes to talk radio. They can listen to Sean Hannity, Matt Drudge, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Dr. Laura. Where’s the competition? How do we know progressive radio wont work down here? Is there a choice? Year after year, we vote overwhelmingly for Democrats, but still have hacks, drug addicts, bigots, and former porn stars to listen to on KURV.

What gives?

When are the programmers at KURV going to realize that maybe there should be some sort of opposing view on their station? When will they find time for a voice that isn’t parroting the current administraton’s talking points, or spouting off anti-immigrant trash, and put ONE show on the air that promotes universal health care, ending the war, and talks about local issues that matter? Sure, they have Davis Rankin during the drive home, but their prime spots are reserved exclusively for conservative Republican views.

It’s not an issue of government regulating talk-radio. No one has said that, but there are serious questions about licensing and ownership that push an ideology of hard right conservatism through choice of programming. The fact that 90% of what we hear is conservative has everything to do with what the ownership wants to hear and promote has nothing to do with the free market because the talk radio free market is unbalanced.

I podcast all of my favorite shows, despite their premium account prices. You can’t put a price on hilarious, fact-filled shows that represent a majority of the American population.

If you feel like gettin’ down and nerdy, check out the 40 page report b y the Center for American Progress on The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio.

Shousers! Says:

June 26, 2007 at 2:28 am

Sweet! RSS?

Fred Says:

August 31, 2007 at 4:16 pm

It comes down to economics. Trying to find advertisers down here that would be willing to spend their money on shows that are unlistenable and underperforming would be impossible. Liberal Talk, while stimulating to a small core, is neither educational or informative in the minds of the vast majority of the general public. An advertiser pays money to buy commercials during a certain program in order to promote his business to the listeners. If the advertiser knows that there are few listeners, then he’s going to spend his advertising dollars elsewhere… somewhere where he can maximize his investment. Liberal talk is best suited to NPR, where listener support, from those who agree with whatever cause is being espoused, is guaranteed. On commercial radio, advertisers don’t buy commercials because they necessarily agree with the program being aired, they buy commercials because they get the most people to listen to them. It’s basic economics. Liberal talk radio will never succees in a commercial radio format, and if stations are forced to carry liberal talk, then their listenership will go down, their ratings will plummet, and some other station who doesn’t air it will get the advertising dollars instead. Stations don’t want that to happen, advertisers don’t want that to happen, and listeners don’t want that to happen. Success in the free market is won and lost by popular vote, not by quotas, regardless of the reason(s) for establishing those quotas.

The Political Ring Says:

September 22, 2007 at 7:58 pm

HISPANICS HAVING TO PUT UP WITH BULLSHIT AGAIN!!

“We apologize for he foul language in the heading and We here at THE POLITICAL RING don’t make it a habbit to use cus words in our blog, but it’s b.s. injustice about How Hispanics are being Percieved that inferiorates us so”

My advice: Call your Congressman and complain about such b.s. being portrayed on a Public Broadcasting Channel.

The following is a clip from Today’s Monitor:

Area veterans criticize omission of Hispanics from WWII documentary

Amanda Harris and Jennifer L. Berghom (Valley Freedom Newspapers)

September 21, 2007 – 11:00PM

HARLINGEN — A group of men held yellow and orange signs Friday that read, “Hispanic World War II Vets were excluded. Why?” The men also held American flags and black-and-white Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flags as they protested filmmaker Ken Burns’ documentary series, “The War,” which is scheduled to premier Sunday on Public Broadcasting Service stations across the country. “We want to make sure that the public knows — especially PBS and this affiliate here, KMBH — that we are opposed to the airing of this documentary by Ken Burns,” said M. Felix Rodriguez, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars District 18. “It’s an inaccurate portrayal of the diversity of the groups that contributed to the victory over our enemies during World War II.” Rodriguez and four other veterans, all of whom have fathers, fathers-in-law or uncles who served during World War II, stood in an empty field Friday across the street from the KMBH-TV60 building with their signs and flags. “They left us out,” veteran Maximo Belmarez said. “Mexicans played a big part of the war. It was not puros gueritos fighting.” Veteran Efrain Solis said that even though Burns added segments to his documentary featuring Latino and Native American veterans, it was only after various groups protested their initial absence. “It’s an afterthought,” Solis said. Eduardo Casas, a retired Marine and retired teacher from the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school district, said his biggest worry is that teachers will use the documentary as an educational tool. “That’s my concern as an educator,” Casas said. “It’s inaccurate. That’s a worry. It will give the wrong message to young students.” Casas said documentarians have a responsibility to do thorough and complete research, because documentaries are often used in classrooms. Questions to KMBH regarding the protest were directed to the e-mail account of the station’s general manager Monsignor Pedro Briseño, who did not respond as of Friday. The documentary sparked protests throughout the nation as well as threats to boycott products of the series’ sponsors. Some cartoonists even dedicated their comic strips to telling the stories of Hispanic World War II veterans, according to The Associated Press. The AP also reported that Burns and PBS reached an agreement with a Hispanic veterans group to add a segment that includes content from Native American and Latino veterans. But Rodriguez, fellow veterans and historians said that isn’t enough, calling it “a slap in the face.” “What he is saying is (Hispanic and Native American veterans) didn’t participate or contribute to the success in winning the war,” Rodriguez said. “It is an insult to me, but more of an insult to my dad.” Jennifer Mata, a history professor at the University of Texas-Pan-American, said leaving out that history could lead to issues of identity problems for younger generations because they won’t see their ancestors’ contributions. Mata and fellow UTPA history professor Amy Hay said World War II was a significant war for Hispanics as well as other minorities, because they were fighting against discrimination abroad while facing it in their own country. Trinidad Gonzales, a history instructor at South Texas College in McAllen, said he hopes more Hispanic veterans and their families will record their own histories. Gonzales said he is working with Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez — a University of Texas at Austin professor collecting oral histories of Hispanics who lived during World War II — to record the histories of veterans throughout the Rio Grande Valley. Rivas-Rodriguez also founded Defend the Honor, a campaign that criticizes what it calls Burns’ omission of Hispanic and Native American veterans from his documentary. “The bottom line is, we can’t just allow the documentary (to be) considered to be a true reflection of what was going on in World War II,” she said.