Another American Voice is Gone
For those of you who don’t know, Goldman, a longtime attorney here in the state of California, hosted a radio call-in talk show for nine years, having previously been a regular contributor and frequent fill-in host for the late Ed Schultz.
Goldman’s show was an impassioned three hours of views, legal analysis and civics that stood alone on those lonely, rare portions of the AM band willing to host something besides right-wing or sports talk. Few people could take apart the complex issues of law, politics and governance and make them not only understandable, but fun, as Goldman did, day in and day out.
All that is gone now. He and his wife, Francis, had self-funded the radio program the whole time, and after losing two million dollars on the venture, they finally had to tap out.
This post isn’t just about lamenting the loss of a great radio voice, but hopefully drawing your attention to the situation that has denied a voice to a massive chunk of the American people and provided the regressives with perhaps their most powerful instrument of manipulation.
Goldman’s show was an impassioned three hours of views, legal analysis and civics that stood alone on those lonely, rare portions of the AM band willing to host something besides right-wing or sports talk. Few people could take apart the complex issues of law, politics and governance and make them not only understandable, but fun, as Goldman did, day in and day out.
All that is gone now. He and his wife, Francis, had self-funded the radio program the whole time, and after losing two million dollars on the venture, they finally had to tap out.
This post isn’t just about lamenting the loss of a great radio voice, but hopefully drawing your attention to the situation that has denied a voice to a massive chunk of the American people and provided the regressives with perhaps their most powerful instrument of manipulation.
Most of you already know that much of commercial radio is owned by two conglomerates, whose names I’m not going to mention here because I don’t want to give them any free pub. You probably also know that both of these corporations donate tons of money to the repub party. And that is why AM radio, at least with regard to politics, is pretty much deplorables-only territory. The same corporations have worked their magic on music radio as well, rendering rock, country, so-called “urban” radio to a stale, squalid sea of predictability.
Neither situation has to be this way, but sadly, it’s yet another example of how smart the rightists are and the dumb we Americans can be.
The law is, as repeatedly affirmed in court rulings, that the airwaves are publicly owned. That means they belong to Americans, too, and not just repubs and conservatives. And yet -- and I’ve done this -- when you drive across the country, just as the signal from a radio station with the number-one right-wing blowhard starts to fade, no worries, you’ll enter an area where the signal from another station, in another city, is broadcasting same right-wing blowhard. You never have to have range-anxiety when it comes to right-wing tripe.
We are often told that AM radio doesn’t matter as much these days. True, internet-enabled cars or phones easily patched into your car sound system have emancipated many from forced AM listening. Satellite radio and podcasting have also dramatically altered the listening landscape.
But the fact of the matter is that AM radio is still the easiest way to listen to radio, and it’s still the most accessible. Here in Southern California, we have a 50,000 watt station which can be heard clearly everywhere, be it at the border crossing in Tijuana or the Oregon stateline (actually, it can be heard as far east as Texas). And except for some late-night, weekend time slots, it’s all right-wing drivel all the time. It’s as if somehow Americans must resign themselves to the idea that the airwaves belong only to the righties, their exclusive through-the-air playground.
In a handful cities, a non-profit entity does have powerful stations that do promote a progressive point of view. From our standpoint, and this is strictly our opinion, it’s very far to the left and worse, its hours of pedantic gloom-and-doom that always leaves you feeling more depressed after you listen than you did before. It bears little resemblance to the fast-paced, often hilarious Miller or the cerebral but captivating commentary from Thom Hartmann (who, yes, is carried by some of this non-profit’s stations).
And no, public radio is not balance, as some righties dishonestly contend.
There is also the idea that liberal radio just won’t work, and if you examine the American cultural landscape carefully, you’ll uncover the corpse of Air America, a short-lived -- and poorly-run -- sort of network.
Air America wasn’t a complete failure by any means. Marc Maron and Rachel Maddow were part of the network and have gone on to great success. And, along with Schultz and Stephanie Miller, spearheaded a series of liberal talk formats around the country. The problem was that most stations that owned these stations were owned by the same corporate entity that owns much of right-wing radio. We can tell you that here in Southern California, there was one fairly powerful station which featured liberal talk, but there was, as far as we could see, zero promotion. No billboards, no bumper stickers or TV commercials. Many Americans didn’t know the station even existed.
And, starting soon after the election of Barack Obama, said corporation has replaced many of those stations with sports or conserva-nazi talk, where in many cases, ratings have fallen considerably. In decidedly Democratic cities like Los Angeles, there’s not a single commercial liberal or Democratic station. Apparently, if you’re a big-city deplorable, you have more rights to the airwave than the Democrat who pays as much or more in taxes than you do.
Neither situation has to be this way, but sadly, it’s yet another example of how smart the rightists are and the dumb we Americans can be.
The law is, as repeatedly affirmed in court rulings, that the airwaves are publicly owned. That means they belong to Americans, too, and not just repubs and conservatives. And yet -- and I’ve done this -- when you drive across the country, just as the signal from a radio station with the number-one right-wing blowhard starts to fade, no worries, you’ll enter an area where the signal from another station, in another city, is broadcasting same right-wing blowhard. You never have to have range-anxiety when it comes to right-wing tripe.
We are often told that AM radio doesn’t matter as much these days. True, internet-enabled cars or phones easily patched into your car sound system have emancipated many from forced AM listening. Satellite radio and podcasting have also dramatically altered the listening landscape.
But the fact of the matter is that AM radio is still the easiest way to listen to radio, and it’s still the most accessible. Here in Southern California, we have a 50,000 watt station which can be heard clearly everywhere, be it at the border crossing in Tijuana or the Oregon stateline (actually, it can be heard as far east as Texas). And except for some late-night, weekend time slots, it’s all right-wing drivel all the time. It’s as if somehow Americans must resign themselves to the idea that the airwaves belong only to the righties, their exclusive through-the-air playground.
In a handful cities, a non-profit entity does have powerful stations that do promote a progressive point of view. From our standpoint, and this is strictly our opinion, it’s very far to the left and worse, its hours of pedantic gloom-and-doom that always leaves you feeling more depressed after you listen than you did before. It bears little resemblance to the fast-paced, often hilarious Miller or the cerebral but captivating commentary from Thom Hartmann (who, yes, is carried by some of this non-profit’s stations).
And no, public radio is not balance, as some righties dishonestly contend.
There is also the idea that liberal radio just won’t work, and if you examine the American cultural landscape carefully, you’ll uncover the corpse of Air America, a short-lived -- and poorly-run -- sort of network.
Air America wasn’t a complete failure by any means. Marc Maron and Rachel Maddow were part of the network and have gone on to great success. And, along with Schultz and Stephanie Miller, spearheaded a series of liberal talk formats around the country. The problem was that most stations that owned these stations were owned by the same corporate entity that owns much of right-wing radio. We can tell you that here in Southern California, there was one fairly powerful station which featured liberal talk, but there was, as far as we could see, zero promotion. No billboards, no bumper stickers or TV commercials. Many Americans didn’t know the station even existed.
And, starting soon after the election of Barack Obama, said corporation has replaced many of those stations with sports or conserva-nazi talk, where in many cases, ratings have fallen considerably. In decidedly Democratic cities like Los Angeles, there’s not a single commercial liberal or Democratic station. Apparently, if you’re a big-city deplorable, you have more rights to the airwave than the Democrat who pays as much or more in taxes than you do.
Whenever some repub hack starts pissing and moaning about the “liberal media,” I always point to AM radio, then step-back and watch the verbal and intellectual gymnastics as they try to defend that glaring and obnoxious bias.
The lack of American voices isn’t totally because of poor business practices, lame radio personalities or corporate intrigue.
Partly, you can thank Bill Clinton for this. For whatever reason, he decided she would go along with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. it was this dreadful piece of legislation that would enable big companies two pretty much own every radio station in the country that wasn't nonprofit or non-commercial. this meant that radio stations could put on the same right-wing host coast to coast and make sure they were heard all across the country. So of course, that meant anybody with an opposing opinion pretty much had no outlet at all.
The flamethrower station, in the late ‘80s, was a lot of fun to listen to, featuring voices across the spectrum, as well as personalities who took great delight in poking fun at each and every one of those voices. In Los Angeles at this time, believe it or not, talk radio quite a lot of fun to listen to. Even the rightists were kind of fun to listen to -- their fat-ass standard bearer at the time was borderline reasonable and occasionally funny.
That all went away after Clinton signed that horrible law, which immediately gave a platform to all the bullies behind his bogus impeachment.
After Democrats took congress in 2006, there was talk of addressing the problems --as they have the constitutional power to do. Predictably, right-wingers -- who never gave a tinker's damn about anyone’s free-speech except their own -- went into hysterics about big-government censorship, and as Democrats always do when repubs throw their tantrums, tucked their tales and meekly offered their paws in apology.
There was some talk of reviving the Fairness Doctrine, but even many liberals thought this was a band-aid that would do very little. The more interesting idea was to bust up the big companies and allow for more local ownership of stations. Chicago and Minneapolis both have independently owned stations that feature liberal/progressive talk, and while they might not be ratings powerhouses, by all appearances they are on stable financial footing.
There are ways to address this, but it requires smarts and spines -- sadly, not exactly the defining characteristics of Democrats or liberals.
Both of the above broadcast entities filed Chapter 11 last year. So much for too big to fail and the wonders of deregulation. But there’s an opportunity here.
Tom Steyer is unloading beaucoup bucks to start the impeachment of donald trump. But this is a constitutionally-prescribed political process. Yes, money talks, but might that money talk a lot louder and a lot clearer if Steyer put together an investment group and took over one of the companies. Or, perhaps they could revive a push to break up the two giants.
As it stands now, a big chunk of AM radio is nothing more than a free megaphone for the most regressive, equality-hating loudmouths who have a soft spot for racism, sexism, and all the other warts on the underside of the American character. Currently, the drive-time loudmouths on the 50,000 watt flamethrower are on a jihad against the homeless. Last decade, they cranked up the slime machine against undocumented immigrants, but often, if you listened, it seemed they were tarring anyone of Mexican descent, while they blamed the repub recession of the last decade on teachers and old people.
And you know what, we at the New Patriot have no desire to shut them up. In fact, we want them to speak up so when we talk about how disgusting people like this are, we have their own words to use.
But what we do want is the same access to the airwaves that we rightfully should have, to offer a
more American version of what this country is all about. In the closing weeks of his show, Goldman pointed out that his show never really had a chance to sink or swim of its own merits. Rather, he never really had a chance to compete in the marketplace of ideas, thanks free-market economics that really, have nothing to do with freedom and everything to do with the Golden Rule -- he who has the gold, rules.
And as long as we Americans sit back and allow this, the right will hold on to this 24-7 golden goose of a propaganda tool, one to which we have as much right as they do.
There are ways to address this, but it requires smarts and spines -- sadly, not exactly the defining characteristics of Democrats or liberals.
Both of the above broadcast entities filed Chapter 11 last year. So much for too big to fail and the wonders of deregulation. But there’s an opportunity here.
Tom Steyer is unloading beaucoup bucks to start the impeachment of donald trump. But this is a constitutionally-prescribed political process. Yes, money talks, but might that money talk a lot louder and a lot clearer if Steyer put together an investment group and took over one of the companies. Or, perhaps they could revive a push to break up the two giants.
As it stands now, a big chunk of AM radio is nothing more than a free megaphone for the most regressive, equality-hating loudmouths who have a soft spot for racism, sexism, and all the other warts on the underside of the American character. Currently, the drive-time loudmouths on the 50,000 watt flamethrower are on a jihad against the homeless. Last decade, they cranked up the slime machine against undocumented immigrants, but often, if you listened, it seemed they were tarring anyone of Mexican descent, while they blamed the repub recession of the last decade on teachers and old people.
And you know what, we at the New Patriot have no desire to shut them up. In fact, we want them to speak up so when we talk about how disgusting people like this are, we have their own words to use.
But what we do want is the same access to the airwaves that we rightfully should have, to offer a
And as long as we Americans sit back and allow this, the right will hold on to this 24-7 golden goose of a propaganda tool, one to which we have as much right as they do.
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