Right-Wing Talk Radio Host: We're Killing The GOP

Right-wing talk radio host Michael Medved says right-wing talk radio is killing the Republican party:

The multibillion-dollar talk radio industry faces existential challenges and dramatic opportunities in the upcoming Age of Obama. Depending on responses from leading conservative talkers, this rude, raucous indispensable medium will either rise to new heights of mainstream influence, profit and credibility, or else collapse as a declining vehicle for an increasingly angry and alienated fringe.

For more than a decade, I've hosted a nationally syndicated political talk show. Like all radio veterans, I cherish the notion that the last time a young Democrat took over the White House with gauzy visions of change, it produced a "Golden Age" for right-wing talk.

...

Today's titans of talk naturally dream of repeating this revival, but even if Obamatrons offer targets for ridicule every bit as juicy as Clintonistas, it won't be easy to recapture the potent magic of the 1990s. Most obviously, the rapid development of cable TV and the Internet has given the public innumerable new options for debate and information. During Clinton's era, conservative talk radio offered the inevitable destination for political junkies who cared deeply about the fate of the new administration. Today, many leading TV comics and commentators lean unabashedly to the left, while progressive websites rival popular right-wing sources online.

This fragmentation of the mass audience has led many talk shows to cultivate a niche audience rather than the Republican mainstream. In the aftermath of stinging GOP defeat in November, radio crackles with blame-game arguments intended to divide "real conservatives" from unworthy moderate imposters -- as if the GOP could become the first party in history to expand an already shrunken base by purging its membership.

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Increasingly, interests of commercial talk radio in a fractured market diverge from the needs of a viable national movement. A radio show (locally or nationally) that draws just 5% of the available audience can achieve notable success in ratings and revenue, but a conservatism that connects with only a disgruntled, paranoid 5% of the public will wither and die.

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[ricitizen]

Quote from the article:

"A radio show (locally or nationally) that draws just 5% of the available audience can achieve notable success in ratings and revenue, but a conservatism that connects with only a disgruntled, paranoid 5% of the public will wither and die."

On that note, I'll be blowing "Taps," the then tap dancing on the grave. Amen!

[Denemator]

May they rest in peace, never to be heard from again.

[ricitizen]

I agree, except for the R.I.P part.

[victoriajubilee]

Too much hate,a lot of people are being turned off

[victoriajubilee]

Too much hate--homo-phobia, racism,sexism. Too much anger ,its turning off a lot of people,the world is changing----------very rapidly.

[Charmed]

Don't leave out the hateful people who call into these talk shows. I swear the republicans are still ranting and raving and saying stupid stuff. Hannity is the ring leader. He has such a problem with people liking Obama BUT he doesn't have a problem bragging about "hannitizing" people....OH I got it, he's a white guy so it's alright to hannitze people.....it's all right for Rush to proclaim himself the almighty and NOW those two are paranoid because a black man is like in America.......It takes a lot of energy to be so hateful EVERYDAY so I have to give you guys credit for being able to scream, yell and complain about Obama EVERYDAY.

[apauline]

Hannity and Limbaugh are "two high school graduates" that got real lucky and make a lot of money spewing hate, racism, bigotry, etc. The sad thing is they have alot of followers that buy into their hate, racism, bigotry , etc. it is sooooooooo sad.

I believe Hannity has a "man crush' on Obama, he just has to say his name EVERYDAY, Limbaugh isn't nearly as bad, but maybe that's because he's a drug addict, you think?????.

[victoriajubilee]

I agree,Hannity is the worst of the worse. He spews hate everday. He even continues to play Rev Wright tapes long after the election is over.

[wadenelson1]

Talk radio is to conservatives what radical terrorists are to Islam. They destroy what was good among the rest, ruin the credibility of the entire group.

Who now can think "ahh, conservatives, small government, lower taxes" given what has happened over the past 8 years and the continual hatred, misinformation, and anger spewed across talk radio.

Intelligent liberals "used" to be able to "hear" some of the good in the conservative message. Smaller government, lower taxes, etc. Now, not so much.

[trisha08]

I think this is a really good point.

I think most people think of conservatitves as the Rush, Hannity, etc. crowd. They have become the face ,,,,errr...mouthpiece of the GOP. They have destroyed the credibility of the entire group.

[NextYearLions]

Relax, Obama has to instill his Socialist ideals first. Then he'll come for you right-wing loons.

[hipichick7]

Let them go away, these right winged "radioheads" just spew fear anyway!