Here's something a little different for the board.
"All Things Considered:
Why NPR Beats Talk Radio
[Note: This is post #5 in the Blogiversary II series.]
Now that the two media behemoths Clear Channel and Infinity Broadcasting own every FCC license in the Western Hemisphere, commercial radio has consolidated into one monolithic blanket of banality . Even those of us who are fortunate enough to live in a major radio market (I live in Dallas/Ft.Worth) have few real choices on our radio dials.*
Pop and country stations used to play the “top 40” but now they repeat the same singles over and over throughout the day. No matter when I tune in I know I'll hear about Usher’s confessions or how Toby Keith loves his bar. The music from both genres has become so monotonous that I’m starting to get them mixed up in my head. Just the other day I imagined that Nelly and Tim McGraw were singing a duet.
There is also the “alternative” station in town which has a heavy rotation of Nickelback and Green Day. Apparently, the term “alternative” is loosely defined as to mean any alternative to Usher and Toby Keith. We do have a true alternative at the university, but like every campus radio station the signal can’t reach past the beer-soaked lawns on fraternity row.
We also have an “urban” channel that plays hardcore rap in case you need a soundtrack for a drive-by shooting and a “smooth jazz” station that will make you want to reach for your gat and bust a cap in somebody. There is one exceptional “classic soul” channel that is worthy of praise. Unfortunately, during the morning drive-time the music is replaced by Tom Joyner and company giggling for five seconds before going to the next commercial. And of course you have the requisite “Christian” station playing sugary music so vapid and mawkish that the playlist must be programmed by Satan himself.
Fortunately, I still have another option available. There’s a place on my radio dial that I can turn to hear news, current events, intelligent conversation, and the latest on politics and culture; an oasis amidst the desert of the airwaves. And no, it’s not talk radio. It’s better. It’s NPR.
Here’s six reasons why National Public Radio beats talk radio:
It’s not part of the conservative monoculture – Here in the Metroplex I have three different AM talk stations to choose from. During the day I can listen to Mark Davis, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Gary McNamara, Darrell Ankarlo, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly, Greg Knapp, Tony Snow, Laura Ingraham, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, and Michael Savage.* Every single host is a middle-aged white male conservative (except for Ingraham, who merely imitates being one).
Naturally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that perspective. But why would I want to listen to the same viewpoint being expressed ad nauseum? Seriously, if I want to know what a white male conservative thinks I can just read my own blog.
*There is also Bill Bennett (8am-11am) and Hugh Hewitt (8pm-11pm) but I can’t pick up either one of those shows on my car stereo.
There are no callers – On her recent appearance on Sean Hannity’s radio show, Jeanne Garofalo refused to talk to callers. She claimed that when people call in to radio shows it does nothing but bore the audience. For once, Jeanne and I agree. The people who call radio shows rarely have anything interesting to say. Mostly they simply want to express that they either love the show’s host or tell them that they disagree with him (and it’s almost always a him). The opinions expressed by callers are consistently unoriginal and dull. Only on the most rare occasion do the add anything worthwhile to the conversation.
But radio hosts love them because they fill airtime. Because the supply always exceeds the demand, a national radio host can fill any excess time by simply answering the phones. Even the most obscure topic will keep people waiting on the line for hours just so that they can hear themselves talk.
NPR shows, on the other hand, rarely have callers. Instead they fill the spare airtime with actual content.
No commercials – I realize that radio is a business and that stations have to sell commercials to stay on the air. But do they need to have so many? Most shows have news and traffic at the top and bottom of each hour. That’s two breaks, along with local commercials. Then they run ads about every 5-7 minutes. All together, the show is interrupted about ten times every hour. Chance are that when you get into your car and turn on radio the AM station will either be playing an ad or will be going to commercial within thirty seconds. Add these breaks to the time wasted on callers and you end up with very little actual content.
No Dittoheads – In all of the years I’ve listened to NPR, I’ve never heard anyone praise Terry Gross or Bob Edwards. Yet you can’t listen to talk radio for more than five minutes without hearing a caller sucking up to the host. I’m sure it is very gratifying to hear people constantly sing your praises but it's annoying for the listener.
And while I’m sure that Sean Hannity is a decent guy and good citizen, it’s rather disturbing hearing him constantly referred to as a “Great Man.” Smedley Butler, a Marine who won two Medals of Honor, was a great man. George Washington, the man who helped win the American Revolution, was a great man. Abraham Lincoln, a President who held the country together during the Civil War, was a great man. Sean Hannity is a talk show host. He makes his living talking. All day. That doesn’t quite qualify him for Great Man status.
It's not Rush – Let’s admit the truth: Rush’s glory days have long since passed him by. Fifteen years ago his schtick was still somewhat fresh and daring. Yes, he was egotistical and overbearing but it was all for show; a way to get under the skin of liberals. But now it’s simply become tiresome. Anyone who still listens to Rush drone on for three hours (or fifteen minutes once you cut out the commercials) is likely doing so out of nostalgia.
Rush was a pioneer and there is no doubt that if it weren’t for him conservative talk radio wouldn’t be the force it is today. But, ironically, his success has led to his downfall. Nowadays he’s being upstaged by imitators like Sean Hannity who do a better job of playing “Rush” than Limbaugh does. It’s time for Mr. Snerdley to whisper in the big guy’s headphones and tell him to put away the Golden Microphone.
There's no Dr. Laura – Say what you will about NPR, it has no one as annoying as Dr. Laura. Listening to her tell people how they could fix their lives is like being trapped in a small room with your mother-in-law.
In comparison, the flaws of talk radio allow NPR to stand out more than is warranted. Listening to NPR is like dating a charming and beautiful woman that has a semi-serious personality disorder; you're enchanted by her yet know you can’t commit to someone so troubled. But most criticism of the station is too simplistic, too concerned with its liberal bias. The problem with the station, though, runs much deeper than a mere penchant for left-leaning politics. NPR can be heard in almost every town in the country yet its worldview is a secular cosmopolitanism that is foreign to many Americans, particularly those in non-urban areas or in the “Red States.” The hosts of All Things Considered, for example, would have no trouble relating to an obscure avant garde musician, while a popular gospel singer would be considered an anthropological curiosity.
Still, NPR takes ideas, culture, art, and international affairs seriously. Conservative talk radio may touch on the same issues but generally they are either treated defensively (“In our next segment, the NEA's plan to ruin our children…”) or as purely political concerns (“Will the genocide in Darfur hurt Kofi Annan?”). Talk radio is merely topical while NPR attempts to be timely.
Mostly when I listen to NPR I wonder why conservatives can’t produce something similar. Why can’t we have discussions about art for art’s sake on the radio? Why can’t we have debates about the role of religion without it being subordinated to politics? Why have we ceded all culture to the “liberals?”
The other day I heard a segment on NPR by a young medical student at Harvard. He was describing a scene in which a pediatrician convinced a child to endure the pain of a vaccination by invoking “magic dust.” From this launching point he raised questions about the ethics of the placebo effect and the trust we put in physicians. It didn’t produce any earth-shaking epiphanies but it did make me ponder the questions involved. Like the best blog posts, it helped me to think about an issue that wasn’t imperative but was still important.
The short segment reminded me of what radio could be, but rarely becomes. Too often talk radio simply asks us to choose sides. Issues aren’t debated in order to change minds, for our minds are already made up. We are only asked to agree or disagree with the host. I, for one, don’t want my time wasted on such trivial discussions. I want to be challenged, I want a real, honest debate. Maybe Rush is right about everything. But I’d still prefer to think for myself.
*I originally wrote this post in November 2004 and have since moved to the Chicago area. Now I have XM Sattelite Radio and a subscription to Mars Hill Audio Journal so I don't listen to as much talk radio -- or NPR -- as I once did.
Posted by Joe Carter"
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