Shock Jock Radio

by B.J. on 6/04/2008 08:10:00 AM 0 comments Print this post

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"The pose of objectivity is always the first cover for ideology, as witness the experience of a certain "fair and balanced" news organization." - John Medaille, some guy on the History of Economics Listserv



Why does it seem like everyone on talk radio is a denture-goggling fucking moron?

The top 3 most listened to people on radio in America are good examples. Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage. Old middle-aged white guys prone to bitching about people in socially and economically disadvantaged positions.

Michael Savage in particular is really annoying mainly in part because of his background.

A guy who lives in Frisco. Who went to Berkeley and Hawaii. A guy who posed naked in a picture with an openly gay guy. A former medical anthropologist. Everything in his background screams "tolerance." You would think his ideas in the popular view would be considered extremely tolerant. However, I have found them to be extremely not.

Instead, here we have a guy who now spews non-stop about immigrants, gays, Arabs, Muslims.

I wonder if he's just playing a big rhetorical trick on people. I wonder if he's not just a more serious Stepehen Colbert. You think he'd build some sense of solidarity with other loud mouths. But even Bill O'Reilly hates him.

Media Shock Jocks: The Case of Michael Savage


I don't think O'Reilly, Hannity, and Savage are actual real-life idiots. They're getting rich off of their air time, their books, their products.

What bothers me is not their intelligence, or their views, or even that they're getting rich, but the fact these are the guys that America by and large goes out of its way to listen to.

Guess there's just something comfortable for a contingent of Americans in hate-filled, exclusionary rhetoric.


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