NY Times Manages to Get Through Talk Radio Item With Calling it 'Hate Radio'

A surprisingly fair piece on conservative talk radio from the New York Times that manages to get through an entire story without any mention of hate radio, Air America or quoting from the goons at FAIR or Media Matters. What happened to their playbook?

Amid all the pressures on the radio industry, news-talk stations see an opportunity — and his name is Barack Obama.

After eight years of playing defense for President Bush, the conservatives who dominate talk radio are back on offense.

Hours after Mr. Obama’s election, the country’s most popular radio host, Rush Limbaugh, was talking about the “rebirth of principled opposition.”

Sean Hannity, the second highest-rated host, quickly cast his afternoon show as the home of “conservatism in exile.”

It is a lively time to be behind the microphone. One television talker, Joe Scarborough, is starting a radio show. Another, Bill O’Reilly, is ending his.

Several of the supporting actors in this year’s Republican primary are showing interest in the medium, too. Fred Thompson, the “Law & Order” star turned presidential candidate, will begin hosting a two-hour show in March, as the syndicator Westwood One is expected to announce this week. Mr. Thompson’s show would take the place of Mr. O’Reilly’s.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and a Republican presidential candidate, had been in negotiations with Westwood One for Mr. O’Reilly’s time slot, according to two people with knowledge of the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because a deal was not struck.

I take issue with the notion that conservatives were "playing defense" for George W. Bush. Sure, on issues such as the war on terror and the Iraq invasion, radio hosts were pretty much unanimous in their defense. But many hosts, and Hannity comes to mind, were harshly critical on economic issues and consistently lamented the fact that the Bush administration wasn't on offense themselves against what they perceived as unfair treatment.

The story goes on to note several politicians will be starting up shows themselves, including Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani, as well as Joe Scarborough, who's already appearing on WABC in New York. Frankly, I'm not sure any of them will succeed where those such as Hannity and Limbaugh already have, not to mention successful hosts such as Laura Ingraham, Tammy Bruce and Neal Boortz, who don't even merit any mention by the Times. Of those former pols, perhaps Scarborough has a shot at making it as he's been out of office and hasn't run for anything in some time. It seems as if the others are just looking for something to do until they run for office again. Based on his lackluster run for president, I'm not sure Fred Thompson has it in him to carry a daily show. He has filled in for Paul Harvey on those 15-minute spots and does have a folksy charm that may go over with some.

One thing we can be thankful for--the dreadful Bill O'Reilly radio show is now dead. O'Reilly just didn't translate on radio and his show, the few times I ever listened, came off more like an infomercial pushing product.

Sneaky Backdoor FCC Rule Could Imperil Talk Radio

I hope the folks out there who enjoy talk radio, and hopefully the hosts themselves are aware of this.

They better be. You know the Democrats want to silence debate and would love nothing more than to reimpose the absurd Fairness Doctrine. Knowing that's pretty difficult, they'll certainly be happy to leave it up to the anti-American, terror-supporting scum like CAIR to do their dirty work.

English First warned fans of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dr. James Dobson and other syndicated talk shows that a proposed FCC regulation would drive their favorite programs off the air.

On January 24, 2008, the FCC published a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" in the Federal Register which, if ultimately adopted, would impose a back-door version of the discredited "Fairness Doctrine" upon America's airwaves.

The FCC's proposed regulations claim that radio station "programming -- particularly network programming - often is not sufficiently culturally diverse" and that the FCC seeks "to ensure that broadcasters serve their communities, especially traditionally underserved audiences," such as non-English speakers, whether or not these people actually exist.

Wonderful.

These advisory boards "should include representatives of all segments of the community," a requirement which would empower self-appointed "community leaders," such as representatives of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) or the Center for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), to discourage commercial radio stations from airing discussions of controversial matters such as the costs of illegal immigration or the meaning of jihad.

English First has established a web site, http://www.keeprushontheair.com, containing the relevant FCC documents and a citizen's petition to the FCC. The deadline for FCC reply comments is June 11, 2008.

H/T NJDhockeyfan.

Want a Chance to Interact With a Soldier in Iraq Tonight?

You can do just that tonight at 11 PM EST courtesy of Blog Talk Radio.

Think you have a hard time finding yarn? Join The Knitgrrl Show as we talk to US Army specialist Lorie Jewell live from Baghdad, where Lorie and her knitting friends will talk to us about knitting -- and life -- in the Green Zone.

BTR is a unique experience. Beside listening to a live radio show you can also interact with the host and participants via a live chat room and you can call in also.



To fully participate you will need to register and then when it is show time log in. If the audio portion doesn't work right away simply refresh.

So for those that would like a chance to get information first hand from somebody who is there and maybe get some knitting tips make time to tune in and if you feel inclined ask questions.

National Heroes Tour on BTR

The National Heroes Tour is in Evansville, IN today and they will be on Blog Talk Radio today also. They are participating in an event aboard an LST and the BTR host CyberPastor will be broadcasting it live starting at 3:30 EST. So for those of you not able to make it to the Heroes Tour in person here is a chance to tune in, listen and participate in a chat rooms with these guys.

Update:
This link will direct you to the site with the chatroom and the audio.

Blog Talk Radio

This post is about Blog Talk Radio, BTR. You may have seen or heard of it or may even be aware of it because of guys like Ed Morrissey, formerly of Captains Quarters and now on Hot Air, have shows on this site.
Anyway I am just forwarding this on because it appears they are opening up a whole new sort of social networking site.
I listen to some of the shows from time to time. Right now I tune in to Halls of Vahalla with Newt One along with one called Screw Liberals. Pam Gellar, Atlas, also has a show over there.
I don't know whether our readers would be interested in this sort of thing, but it is normal people basically doing talk radio over the web and while listening to the shows, you can call in or participate in the chat rooms. It is a total interactive experience.
A couple of the new things that will be available with the new site.
Host News Feed Stay up to date with all the latest BlogTalkRadio news and highlights. If it happens on BlogTalkRadio, you'll know.
My Network Social Networking Defined. Now you manage your network activity in one central place! This is a real-time RSS feed that will keep you up to speed on what's happening with your friends and favorites across your personal BlogTalkRadio network.
So if you have ever fancied yourself as the next Rush Limbaugh or you just want to meet up with folks for entertaining conversation or you are simply a talk radio addict check them out.