caption id=attachment_86023 align=alignleft width=100
Limbaugh/caption
By Lynn Woolley
Its a genuine trend. If the country a political party or President Obama has a problem
blame it on Talk Radio. If you cant make that stick
blame it on Cable News.
If that doesnt work get specific. Blame
Rush Limbaugh or FOX News. Reading this morning that people are
taught racism by Cable News got me to wondering how would a cable net go about doing that? But then the problems with the Republican Party and the partisan split in Washington -- are often placed on the shoulders of Talk Radio.
Wow! Thats power.
As a talk show host I had no idea that I had that type of influence. Perhaps Id better be more careful when I demand a post-racial America or insinuate that politicians should keep their promises and not lie to the American people. What I need is a cable show. I would still have no vote in Congress but I could teach" people how to think.
The REAL problem with Talk Radio and Cable News.
Heres what I think is going on. Talk Radio came in like a lamb after the
Fairness Doctrine ended.
One guy a college dropout who went by the radio name of Jeff Christie" saw an opportunity. He dropped his deejay persona and under his real name became a talk show host in Sacramento.
At that time open and free opinions on radio were unheard of. Rush Limbaugh had to fight for affiliates in an industry that didnt believe in him and didnt want him.
Rush caught on because he was the FIRST to raise an objection.
Yes there were hot radio commentators in the past from
Father Coughlin to
H.V. Kaltenborn and even
Paul Harvey. But using the unleashed medium of radio Limbaugh proceeded to dissect the news not just report it.
From a conservative point of view he took accounts from the traditional media and exposed the bias and the outright promotion of liberalism in the Press.
What happened was amazing. His affiliate list skyrocketed as did his ratings. It turned out that millions of people were not being served by the traditional media. Who knew?
All FOX News did was take the Limbaugh model and move it to cable television.
Again with few choices people who were sick and tired of ABC CBS CNN and NBC flocked to the new channel. By that time all of AM radio had exploded into talk with most of it conservative.
Now I suppose the New Media" which includes Talk radio Cable News and the Blogosphere such as WBDaily.com has gone too far. Its taken millions of consumers away from the Old Media.
But why tear down New Media?
Its either resentment or liberal/conservative splits in the punditry. But its hard to understand why some people think and write that media choices are bad.
I for example despise MSNBC. I think its a 24-hour lie fest that exists to support liberal causes with very little actual journalism. My solution? I dont watch it.
Cable News and racism.
caption id=attachment_86022 align=alignright width=150
Mike Drago (Photo: Dallas Morning News)/caption
In the March 12 2015 edition of the Dallas Morning News Mike Drago of the newspaper
Editorial Board wrote this:
Learned behavior: Nobody is born with racist thoughts. People are taught to think that way by parents and friends and cable news."
The statement doesnt go on to clarify what he meant. If he was referring to MSNBC I would agree. That particular network runs programs by race-based hosts such as
Melissa Harris-Perry who occasionally make outlandish statements with regard to race. And they carry a daily show hosted by the race-based and liberal
Reverend Al Sharpton. If he was talking about FOX News I dont get it. I am a constant consumer of FOX News and see nothing of the kind.
Talk Radio and the Sputtering GOP.
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
ran a column on March 2nd 2015 about how the new Republican majority is being squandered. It carried this passage:
Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan has support across the House GOP as a possible Speaker but why would he want to run a majority that is hostage to the whim of 50 members who care more about appeasing Talk Radio than achieving victories?"
Oh so? The venerated Editorial Page of the Wall Street Journal is concerned with victories" but not truth. For example when Speaker Boehner wants to go ahead and get a clean" bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (which is what Obama wants too) the WSJ would call that a victory.
Talk Radio not wanting Obamas unconstitutional amnesty considers that a defeat. Its all in how you look at it.
So go ahead and blame Talk Radio and Cable News.
We dont exist to make traditional newspapers happy or to kiss the feet of the Republican Party elite. We know that
Republicans do not lose because they lose. They lose because they cave. This is not the place to debate the merits of the
DHS funding bill except to say that the American people were lied to about it from the start.
More than 85 percent of the Department would not have shut down had it not been funded. The country would not have been in danger. But Obama got his clean bill and Boehner made that happen.
A victory right? Not really. Obama now gets Obamnesty funded and the movement toward a permanent Democratic Party majority progresses.
At least Talk Radio and Cable News told you about it. We told the truth. Can Americas traditional media say that?
Editors note: an earlier version of this post included Fox as one of the cable networks Drago referred to. It has been removed to clarify that Drago did not specify any news network.
Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based syndicated talk-show host and author who blogs at WBDaily.com. The Lynn Woolley Radio Program is carried live on T-SPAN or can be heard Monday-Friday from 8:00 am 11:00 am in Lubbock-Amarillo (KVOP 1090) Midland-Odessa (KCRS 550) Waco (KBBW 1010) & Temple-Killeen-Ft. Hood (KTEM 1400) and Navasota (KWBC 1550). Write to him via lynn@BeLogical.com.
