Engagement: What Conservatives Must Do
by Brian Maloney, December 24th, 2008 at 03:53pm
By now, it should be obvious to conservatives that the Republican Party’s policy of writing off large chunks of the American landscape simply because they had “turned blue” was a major mistake.
Without a dog in the fight, voters in Northeastern and Western states are no longer even hearing conservative arguments, much less being offered a right-leaning choice on the ballot. That means the outcome is determined before the first vote is even cast.
In 2008, for example, it was sickening to see some of Beacon Hill’s sleaziest characters run unopposed. And sadly, the GOP couldn’t even field candidates to take on most of our embarrassing excuse for a congressional delegation.
When it comes to dealing with the mainstream media, the same dilemma exists: do we ignore or engage them?
When a reporter from the fire-breathing lefty Miami Herald contacted me last week for an interview regarding talk radio and the Fairness Doctrine, that was my thought process. A year or two ago, I might not have even returned the message, assuming that any on-the-record response would be twisted in a way that would make me appear foolish.
But after 2008’s election debacle, that’s no longer a consideration. It’s time to engage these people head on, regardless of the outcome. If there’s an opening to influence newsroom lefties even one tiny bit, why not take it?
So during the course of a lengthy conversation with the Herald reporter, Glenn Garvin, I tried to hammer home two themes: one, that it is impossible to force listeners to stick with programming they don’t like (with The Felon as Boston’s Exhibit A) and second, that conservative talk radio is a format, not unlike Country, Urban, etc. That’s why it’s wrong to mix left and right-leaning talk on the same station, it’s oil and water.
While the resulting piece certainly wasn’t the way I would have represented the fight over the Fairness Doctrine, at least a bit of my viewpoint was incorporated:
Can you imagine it? The Limbaugh lying down with the lamb? The Christians-and-lions slaughterhouse of talk radio turning the other cheek, or, at least, the other ear? Conservatives can — though in place of the word imagine, they’re more likely to use fear.
They say the incoming Barack Obama administration and its Democratic allies in Congress plan to strangle talk radio with fairness: specifically, the Fairness Doctrine, a long-abandoned federal policy that requires radio and TV stations to balance conservatives with liberals and vice-versa.
At its most extreme, the Fairness Doctrine might require Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck to follow every right-to-life phone call with one from a doctor who does partial-birth abortions. Or, for that matter, pro-gun-control people calling in to lefty Randi Rhodes to be balanced by commentary from AK-47 owners.
Even a more moderate and more likely scenario — forcing stations to carry shows from across the ideological spectrum — would wreak havoc with talk radio, station managers and other industry figures say, since most talk stations brand themselves as either conservative or liberal.
”Why would you air something your listeners don’t like?” says Brian Maloney, a former conservative talk-show host who now writes a blog called Radio Equalizer, widely read in the industry. “Why would you play classical music on a country station? The listeners just turn it off.”
Though a resumption of the Fairness Doctrine would affect all broadcast television and radio stations, its biggest impact would be on conservatives, who by some estimates outnumber liberals on talk radio by a margin of nine to one — in South Florida, three of the four talk stations are conservative. It’s become the place where grass-roots conservatives meet, organize and develop talking points with the help of Limbaugh and other movement mouthpieces.
Funny enough, when I mentioned during our phone conversation that many people see the Miami Herald as a very liberal newspaper, Garvin broke out in laughter, almost as if he’d never before heard the accusation made.
Nonetheless, for conservatives, a new policy of engagement will be key to winning future battles. It’s time to field candidates, raise money and above all else, return calls from reporters in far-left newsrooms.
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11 Comments Add your own
1. Al Bowlly | December 25th, 2008 at 10:15 am
You are right Brian. Thanks for taking the time to speak with the dinosaur in Miami. The picture you included reminds me that the building will soon be razed for condos. And this guy laughed. Wonder if he’ll be laughing from behind the counter at Starbucks in a year or two.
2. ChrisNH | December 25th, 2008 at 11:45 am
How does a newspaper writer muster the ability to ‘break out in laughter’ when his company is being derided and his industry is in shambles? If you don’t think about it or pay attention to it, it must not be happening? Oh, OK. Wizard.
3. Celtic Frost | December 25th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Didn’t Tania deLuzuriaga write for the Miami Herald?
You know, the chick who was supposed to “cover” the Miami Dade school system. Turns out she was schtooping the married superintendent while she “covered” his school system. Nice.
4. Joe from Brighton | December 26th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Miami Herald staff still don’t get it and never will, but if the public reading this article wakes up perhaps this is one reason 2010 and 2012 will keep us up on Election Night.
I’m wondering how nervous the reporter’s laughter was? Admitting one is a moonbat is the first step.
5. NHradiofan | December 26th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Brian,
I think you are correct in defining “Conservative Talk” as its own format. I must admit that I never really looked at it that way but I believe you are on to something here.
When you think about the different formats (country, AAA, AC, etc.) it is easy to just lump all of Talk into one pile but there is definitely a difference between Liberal and Conservative talk and it has nothing to do with the ideologies espoused. I think it lies in the fact that Liberals are such whiners and the whining carries over into their delivery which makes for a very unappealing listening experience.
As for the buffoon from the Miami Herald who interviewed you, if he was surprised to hear that his “newspaper” is widely regarded as a Liberal birdcage liner, then he has no business in the news reporting world.
6. raccoonradio | December 26th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Here’s a comment to a post made on the Liberal Talk Radio blog post (ltradio.blogspot.com) about WVKO in Columbus, OH getting rid of libtalk (the station was sold) for Catholic radio.
And I quote:
“Oh gods, I am SO freakin TIRED of these jesus freak no life nose-picking close-relative-loving cross-burnging toothless yahooz who spend all their money keeping liberal talk off the air, or keeping them thar homos from marrying, or whatever INSANE garbage they have on deck, hopefully evolution will take care of them AND SOON!”
7. Skunky | December 26th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Racoon…that delicious but dopey quote you posted is the same type of retard that got Barack Hussein Obama elected…most of the peeps who voted LIBERAL have NO CLUE on the truth and reality of things (ie…the BIG MEDIA colusion with the Dems and Obama)…they just go with the mASSES and think one teeny tiny thing about ZerObama sounds good so they voted for him not knowing the whole size of the iceberg.
Jesus freaks…most of the time there ain’t nothing wrong with that, close-relative loving…the most TIRED of the untrue conservative stereotypes (along with cross burning…does that even happen anymore?)…and not agreeing to change the meaning of marriage does NOT make one a homophobe. Liberals are mentally disabled!
8. Celtic Frost | December 26th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Brian, you on vacation, dude? Say hi to Howie and Vacay-Jay for us…
9. Chris | December 27th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Oooo! I saw that picture of Obama sans shirt. He looked ‘ripped’ and ‘buff!’ I immediately snatched the picture and Photoshopped the following caption: ‘A Pack a Day of Kools…That’s All it Takes!’
10. NHradiofan | December 27th, 2008 at 10:10 am
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m encouraged (so far) by the apparent tack to the right by the Prez-Elect. He has backed down from his promise to increase taxes on the “evil” rich because of the harm it would cause a floundering economy and he has spoken openly about our long term committment to Iraq and a massive troop increase in Afghanistan (25 - 30K). I know this makes the moonbats crazy, but perhaps The Chosen One realizes that he must be much more pragmatic and level headed rather than the dash toward socialism that he promised in the campaign.
His selections for his administration include a lot of Clinton retreads and signal an acknowledgement that he needs people surrounding him who actually know how to get things done. The moonbats (including some of my family members) are a little put off because they actually believed his campaign rhetoric. They wanted to “get even” with those who have more than they and they thought Obama was the man to do it.
I am also encouraged by the friction developing between Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid vs. Obama. The Congessional leaders have thought all along that they could roll Obama and have their way in setting the far left agenda. Obama is putting together an impressive team that will be more than able to do battle. It will benefit all of us if these 2 factions are busy trying to seize power from one another rather than driving us toward Socialism.
It is quite possible that we could see a replay of the Carter administration where the Congressional leaders are at odds with an outsider President. Maybe we will get lucky and they will be engaged in a 4 year Mexican standoff while the Republican party gets it’s act together.
Remember, we had to have a Carter to get to a Reagan.
11. Skunky | December 27th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Hee-hee…good imagery with the Mexican standoff!
Yes, it’s so apparent dOpe-Bama has NO IDEA what the hell he is doing. If he was the great and powerful Oz like most dopey Americans believed, he’d be able to set up an administration with tons of brilliant new blood but alas, he’s so bloody clueless, he has to steal the blueprints of the Clinton administration.
The Moonbats failed to even WANT to understand the THE MESSIAH is after all from Chicago…home of Mayor Daley (who rules the roost), copius amounts of corruption (that dOpeBama NEVER tried to curtail) and the Cabbage Patch Doll Look-a-like, Governor Blagojevich!
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