The GOP hold on most of American radio seems pretty unshakable, but Democrats must get into the talk-radio game before ever more damage is done.

  • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    NPR usually has a diversity of views and the dialogue isn’t as 24/7 emotional.

    I think the big thing with conservative talk radio is that it’s the verbal equivalent of Micheal Bay - 24/7 PAY ATTENTION RIGHT NOW. Think Alex Jones’s incoherent screaming rants as he plays air raid sirens. He does have guests/callers, but any views that he doesn’t agree with will get shouted down. (He has the illusion of disagreement with more explicitly racist guests - he won’t boot you off if you start talking about the Jews, but will pretend he’s a little uncomfortable). But it’s lots of yelling, and THEY ARE TRYING TO CUT YOUR SONS PENIS OFF! Pretty sure that format goes back through Rush to Hicks.

    NPR doesn’t really tell you what to think. It comes across as left leaning because the Overton window in the US has been pushed so far to the right that our Democrats have the positions that Republicans did 20 years ago, while our Republican Party is fantasizing about purges. But NPR has calm, reasoned discussions between folks of all political persuasions. You can even hear it in the voices - it’s a common punchline how calm the reporters are.

    It’s not the talk format - it’s the content and presentation.