Blaming the RIGHT-wing media?

[Leo Lakio]

Opening Pandora's Box:
Source (http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/28/church-shooting-police-find-manifesto-suspects-car/)
Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals "who are ruining the country," court records show. Knoxville police Sunday evening searched the home of Jim David Adkisson after he allegedly entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and killed two people and wounded six others during the presentation of a children's musical.
----------------------
Inside the house, officers found "Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder" by radio talk show host Michael Savage, "Let Freedom Ring" by talk show host Sean Hannity, and "The O'Reilly Factor," by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly. The shotgun-wielding suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at the church was motivated by a hatred of "the liberal movement," and he planned to shoot until police shot him, Knoxville Police Chief Sterling P. Owen IV said this morning.

[cyleet99]

I'll bite!

IMHO, can't blame all right-wingers for the actions of one. I bet he had a Bible there, too; can't blame God. And you also can't blame the makers of the shotgun shells; this guy decided to attack the congregation all by himself. And rereading your post, sounds like it was a cowardly way to commit suicide.

[sinjin]

What's that radio show where the host goes on endlessly about how conservatives are ruining America?;)

[buzz1941]

What's that radio show where the host goes on endlessly about how conservatives are ruining America?;)

Oh, there's so many to choose from. Are you kidding?

[sinjin]

Lush Somethingorother if I recall. Rimbaugh, that's it.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/93126/tennessee_church_shooting_an_inevitable_consequenc e_of_shock-jocks%E2%80%99_hateful_rhetoric/

[Kalalau]

In an earlier post I mentioned that the Christian station in LA, KBRT (a Salem station like KGU), blamed President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno for the Oklahoma City bombing. A vicious, malignant, evil slander passed off as Christianity. It gets ratings. It makes money. "Thou shalt not lie" totally irrelevant.

In San Diego there was a program director who was hailed as a genius for putting right wing programming on two stations where he worked. One of his most successful talk show hosts has always specialized in gay baiting. The PD retired to near Palm Springs. As it happens, he was a closeted gay man. He picked up the wrong young man for a roll in the hay. He got killed. I wonder if during the last moments of his life he made the connection between the slime he pumped out over the Public Airwaves for money and the disturbed young man who killed him.

Make no mistake. This disasterous economy and the Iraq War and 9-11 are as much the fault of the right wing media as the crooked judges on the supreme ct. The media needs to be fixed. Like you need to remove a tumor.

[buzz1941]

It's actually difficult to hear anything other than righty ranting on the airwaves. Even Stephanie Miller was replaced on Honolulu radio by all-day sports-spew.

[timkona]

You libbos will never, ever get it.

Air America did NOT succeed. I repeat, for emphasis, in case I'm typing in Swahili....

Air America did NOT succeed.

O'Reilly is #1. Has been for years. Don't that just chap your hide.

:cool:

PS - 100 days..and counting........gettin nervous yet? bwahahahahaha.

[buzz1941]

Air America radio? It's still around. I just looked it up -- it's carried by something like 60 stations. Not in Honolulu, though. It's lost several stations to sports-yap, though.

But the point was that "liberal" radio is pretty rare. It's not all Air America. There are other "liberal" yappers out there, but not nearly as many as "conservative" radio yappers.

I also looked up the radio ratings for Honolulu. Bill O'Reilly is on KHNR, and that station is ranked 22nd, not #1. Maybe because he's on 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., one of the deadest air times.

Handy site, BTW:

http://www.radioandrecords.com

On TV, O'Reilly is neck and neck with Keith Olbermann in the key 25-54 demographic, although O'Reilly is way ahead in viewers over the age of 54. Great. Olbermann is just as insufferable as O'Reilly.

[Kalalau]

The radio industry has been lobbying listeners to vote for unregulated dog eat dog capitalism for about 20 years now. The carnage is everywhere. Consider the United Airlines bankruptcy. When the airline industry was regulated, profits, wages, pension plans, and even unprofitable service to small communities were all assured. Comes deregulation, the looters fly in like vultures. In the case of United, the executives applied the employees' pension plan money to the company stock, then took the company bankrupt, then walked away with handsome (multi million dollar) bonuses that had been the employees' retirement.

The regulated electricity market was so stable that people looking for safe, constant investment return habitually invested in utilities. Come deregulation, the looters fly in like vultures, service becomes unreliable and rates skyrocket but none of that matters, all that counted was that the wealthy Texas parasites got even wealthier. Banks, savings and loans, real estate, mortgage, all the same story.

When the people only hear one side of the political spectrum, when they only hear that Democrats and liberals are idiots but that dog eat dog unregulated Republican capitalism is the true American way, a certain percentage of the population will inevitably be persuaded and vote that way. The carnage is all around. This is a problem that needs to be fixed. Ignoring it, pretending it doesn't exist, not dealing with it is like ignoring a medical problem.

Hawai'i is probably more dependent on shipped goods than almost any other place in the world. Fuel costs have already destroyed much of the airline industry that once served Hawai'i, bringing visitors and their money, and it can't help but have an effect in driving up the prices of shipped consumer goods as well. It is insane for the country to commit economic suicide just so a few well connected campaign contributors can become even more obscenely wealthy than they already are. You ignore problems at your peril. The radio industry is a problem. It needs to be fixed. There was nothing wrong with the regulated era in broadcasting--Kronkite, Huntley, Brinkley, Murrow...journalists who reported reality, not buffoons like Hannity or Limbaugh or O'Reilley who deliberately mislead voters into committing the country to economic suicide just so wealthy Texas fast buck parasites can run even more scams.

[Ron Whitfield]

The reason righty spewers are so successful is because their core listeners are so desperate to hear someone/anyone tell them that their adled thinking is not only correct, but 'cool'. They need their daily BS fix to keep their consiences from creeping up on them. They live on/for lies.

I really enjoyed listening to Al Franken's show. The rest of the Air Am. stuff wasn't inticing. Al showed that simply telling it like it is, truly 'fair and balanced' with no bias, was good listening. His focus on political wrong-doing, no matter who did it, was refreshing, and I hope he takes his interest in America's well being far past the Minnesota seat he currently seeking.

The fact that there is an over-abundance of republican bad guys compared to Dems is simply the way it is today, and that's where the majority of news coverage should be.

[buzz1941]

What I liked about Al Franken was that he was amused, not angry. The rightranters are always so pissed off about everything!

[TuNnL]

The radio industry has been lobbying listeners to vote for unregulated dog eat dog capitalism for about 20 years ... When the people only hear one side of the political spectrum ... a certain percentage of the population will inevitably be persuaded and vote that way. ... The radio industry is a problem. It needs to be fixed. There was nothing wrong with the regulated era in broadcasting--Kronkite, Huntley, Brinkley, Murrow...journalists who reported reality, not buffoons like Hannity or Limbaugh or O'Reilley who deliberately mislead voters into committing the country to economic suicideI really think you are overreaching here Kalalau, but that is not surprising considering the lack of research that has gone into your previous posts. The majority of your message gives no justification for your conclusion other then to compare a bunch of news journalists to a bunch of commentators. Do you understand the difference? One’s job description is to report the facts, the other’s job description is to give his opinion. You’re making an apples and oranges comparison.

The reality is, the vast majority of radio listeners don’t even listen to talk radio period, so that “certain percentage of the population that will inevitably be persuaded” is a minuscule amount indeed. :rolleyes:

[Leo Lakio]

I enjoy angry liberal media screamers as much as I enjoy conservative ones - not at all. Air America has affiliates here in Seattle; I've never tuned in (and you folks know I'm an unabashed leftie).

[Ron Whitfield]

We used to get Randy Rhodes here in Honolulu on AA, but she all too often reduced her air time to rants that did nothing for her credibility. I soon tuned out. Most Americans that listen to anti-Rush radio already know the truth and don't need someone wheezing up a storm. Just the relative news, interesting/knowlegeable guests, discussion, and info on how to help the cause of America.

That Franken has a great humorous streak just added a flair to his show. I liked when he brought on his old school days friend, Mark, whom is a hard core righty, and inevitably reduced the guy to the fool he'd chosen to be, just by going over the facts of recent news.

[buzz1941]

In fact, studies show that listeners (and readers) gravitate toward media that reinforces views already held. Virtually no one is ever convinced to change their views. Instead, they listen to people who say what they want to hear.

Now, what would be entertaining is if Jim David Adkisson's lawyers laid down a defense framework that right-wing ranters hypnotized their client into illegal acts, like the way heavy-metal music was once blamed for inspiring serial killers. Sounds like an upcoming Lawn Order episode.

[Walkoff Balk]

What I liked about Al Franken was that he was amused, not angry. The rightranters are always so pissed off about everything!
Which decade was the Al Franken decade?

[Random]

In fact, studies show that listeners (and readers) gravitate toward media that reinforces views already held. Virtually no one is ever convinced to change their views. Instead, they listen to people who say what they want to hear.
Could be said of some posters here as well as other messageboards' posters.

They want their own opinion be validated by a consensus, or that he or she is not alone in his or her thinking.

[Ron Whitfield]

WB, you're living in it!