The Weaver Family

Talk Radio and the New Media

Dave | March 16, 2007

As blogging was at first a text-based challenge to the media, podcasting, or audio-blogging, is becoming a challenge to traditional talk show radio.

And thank God for that. Talk show radio has long been dominated by hosts that are so ensconced in their own beliefs that they cannot listen with an open mind to any opposing viewpoint. They traditionally are rude to people that call into their show with opposing viewpoints because it supposedly drives up ratings.

Rush Limbaugh started the trend, in fact he is the one who is sited most often for saving AM radio and in fact talk radio as a whole. With his conservative viewpoints and format, he gave a conservative viewpoint to the traditional mass media which seems to be dominated by a liberal viewpoint. As his new format became more popular, more conservatives started popping up with both national and regional shows, some more conservative, some more centrists. But all seem to be stuck in this name-calling, anti-tolerant format.

And it’s just not the the conservatives, it’s the liberals too. One needs only to go to the Air America Radio Network and it’s shows to hear the liberal side of talk radio and it’s own name calling and anti-tolerant rants and raves.

Now thanks to the cyclic nature of everything, podcasting has come to address the voice of the new politically active culture who believe listening with an open mind and treating differing viewpoints with respect are the ways and means to political objectives. It’s not liberals or conservatives; it’s a new wave and there are talk shows through podcasting to embrace this concept.

The one I like the most is Common Sense with Dan Carlin. He is objective, fair, and actually balanced. He looks at both sides of the issue. I also find I agree with him most of the time. He represents those who are fed up with the titles of liberal and conservative and believe that an option for a viable third party is the way out of this mess. He represents those that are politically independent, mostly the Generation X crowd and younger, or those who want change in a positive manner.

Now I feel there is actually an option for those of us who were raised to be respectful of others and their viewpoints, even if they differ. Dan Carlin, thank you.

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