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.

...

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

[tbone99]

Not to mention the word conservative has become synonymous with ABJECT FAILURE & CORRUPTION.

[Jonny38103]

The problem may be that the listeners of these programs haven't discovered the Internet yet or think it's not real. Fireside chat, anyone?

[scrutiny1]

"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"

I choose the latter.

[klosskid]

Medved makes a valid point. The public voices of the republican party have become those of Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, and others of their hateful and rigid ilk. As a centrist and a recovering republican, these voices will continue to shrink the party faithful until the republican national convention can be held in a closet... where it belongs.

[Jeff1958]

You forgot the raving lunatic Michael (Weiner) Savage. I dare you to listen to him for 5 minutes. In musical terms, he goes from legato to staccato and as his pitch rises his tempo increases until he sounds like a soprano on speed. One day his head will explode.

[liarsclub75]

Michael Medved =Meathead

[lewes17266]

Michael Medved wrote an essay for Townhall speaking out against the free lunch program in our public schools. I replied that I thought free lunches for our country's poor school children was a good idea and I got ganged up on by other commentors.

[kloche]

Conservatives' thought process is group think. An original idea from the conservative sheep has not seen the light of day for decades now.

[realitychecks]

Maybe he's feeling the need to move to the left,but like his right-wing counter parts he must put blame on someone else.Just slide and take a fresh breath of reality.

[Tomhere]

Uhhhhhhh.
Duuhhhhhhh­hhhhhhhhh.
Well......­..........­..........­..........­.....
Ummmmmmmmm­mmmmmmmmmm­mmmm.
Sniff.....­..........­..........­..........­..........­..
FFFFFTTTTT­TTTTTTTTTT­TTTTTTTTT!
zzzzzzzzzz­zzzzzzzzzz­zz
zzzzzzzzzz­zzzzzzzzzz­zzz
zzzzzzzzzz­zzzzzzzzzz­zzz
Who gives a rat's a**?

[11907281]

I was in grade 9 when Clinton was sworn in. It's not just about more options for information, it's the fact the vast majority of my generation are "progressive" or center and we really get turned off when we hear blind patriotism or "faith based" explanations for reality based problems. These fire breathing "shock jocks" will die out with their aging audience.

[Unsui]

Yeah,1190...This is a truth all the politico's, pundits and journalists (with the exception of Obama's people and Howard Dean) just plain missed. The world changed, dramatically, and they were all living in the past. Thank goodness for you young people though...or else we would be stuck in the '90's forever.

[JShankel]

Keep talking, Medved. With any luck, the Obama Nation will enjoy the same level of ridicule-worthy peace and prosperity that we suffered through back on Planet Clinton.

But you'll be there, won't you Michael? To ridicule and mock the radical, far-left kooks with their wacky ideas about effective government and collective interest.

At least, until we come to our senses and elect someone who'd be fun to have a beer with. Because we all know that THAT is the true commander-in-chief test.

So, be patient with us Michael. We're children out here just fumbling about. We haven't developed your keen, sophisticated, nuanced understanding of what's right for everybody.

But we're learning.

[joetherealist]

Here, Here...

[sugarmoes]

only problem was that it took so long.

[ENOS]

Beware of anyone that yells and screams uncontrollably.

[OKSunny]

yup--so keep talking

[Eric8869]

Michael Medved is one of the worst people in America and was one of the worst movie reviewers of all time

[JShankel]

Medved is problematic to say the least, but I gotta give him props for The Golden Turkey Awards. Very funny.

But that was 28 years ago.

[Citizen-Jane]

Maybe it is that your philosophy is expose Michael.  Yes your hate speeches helped to put everything in context.  Your party and positions are filled with smoke and mirrors.  You've bashed Latinos used them as scape goats for all the economic and security woes that you feel plagued this country.  You pit citizen against citizen.   Your solutions to problems are archaic and history has proven that your potitions failed and yet you want to try the same thing over and over again.  Einstein called that the definition of insanity."Smaller" government to manage some 300,000,000 people? Neglect infrastructure because it cost money..??.. You've made Home Land Security an oxymoron.  Thanks to Katrina.You claim patriotism and on yet.declare war on the government­/governmen­t workers. Like the Dept. of Interior and Education to name a few. Education - if you can afford it -because how else are you going to remain in power if people can think for themselves?You refuse to accept the fact that the union won in the war between the states.  Us against the world mentality as it turns out we need each other.And so much more Michael Meved.The people are finally catching up with times.  Your way and out look on of life is shelfish.
No worries though you still have things like fear working for you.
I wonder if the people will go for it again.

[roadKing52]

Can you please re-post this in english?