CHRIS SEGAL
News Editor
Forget the heavy-metal music on KWVS or the static FM stations that are almost impossible to get in Malibu. Flip over to AM and listen to some talk radio the next time your iPod dies or your compact disc skips.
Talk radio has to be one of the most partisan mediums available outside of blogs, so make sure that you tune into the correct radio station. Listening to one-sided arguments while sitting in traffic on the 405 on a Friday afternoon may very well cause some road rage, and for once not from traffic. The two big conservative talk radio stations in Los Angeles are KFI and KABC both of which compete against each other and the liberal KTLK.
Talk radio has become the realm of conservatives giving their position, which is usually backed up by credible facts and sources. In reaction to a conservative majority on the dial a new station emerged. On Feb. 4 KTLK changed its format moving XTRA sports to AM 570 and adopted a progressive talk radio format with segments from Air America Radio.
With so many options available for information coming from local newspapers, national newspapers, cable news, network news, Web sites and blogs, the focus on the part of the consumer is to get information with which they agree. Not many conservatives listen to Al Franken and not many young democrats listen to Larry Elder.
When there were only three networks and local newspapers delivering the news, people had an interest in becoming informed, not only getting information they agree with. Internet savvy readers can now customize their own browsers and RSS feeds to only show them news and information they are interested in. This is great for busy professionals that want to look at news at a glance, but it is not a good way to stay informed about the important events happening around the world.
Now information gathering is evolving into a way of backing up beliefs people already have. If conservatives only watch Fox News and listen to conservative talk radio, what can they bring to the table in dialogue? The same thing goes for liberals, only reading the opinion section of the Los Angeles Times and only watching CNN just reinforces those liberal beliefs. The hosts of conservative shows routinely read liberal blogs and watch their opponents on the other side of the aisle to better their own arguments and to get some ammunition. The same goes for liberal talking heads.
Information gatherers know what their competitors are doing and saying, the audience should do the same. Flip back and forth while driving on the freeway in rush-hour traffic. Listen to the other side for a while, and maybe you will learn something you didn’t know. When your blood starts to boil you can switch back to your own side and get some affirming information. If I can sit through a James Carville speech and his ragin’ cajun routine, I think you can manage to sit through an Ann Coulter interview. You may even see Coulter running from some pies if she speaks at a college campus.
04-06-2006