Quoting jaylake...

[bovil]

However, one problem for me is that over the last few years, respect for my viewpoint has been notably absent from the public discourse, while scorn for it has been very widely promoted. This fuels my anger and frustration. Look at best-sellers like Ann Coulter's Treason or Michael Savage's Liberalism is a Mental Disorder, or programming like the O'Reilly Factor and Rush Limbaugh's radio feed. The right likes to believe it is on the receiving end of instutional bias from the liberal media, but where are the liberal Ann Coulters and Rush Limbaughs? Michael Moore? Al Franken? Not the same thing at all, not nearly the sell through numbers or pervasive media influence that the right has. And not the same abusive, ad hominem attacks on conservatives simply for the sake of being conservatives that are daily fare in the other direction on television and radio.

When liberals speak out passionately we're so easily slapped down for being out of line, for being unreasonable, for being haters. When conservatives do so, they get national talk show gigs.

Comments

[jbriggs.livejournal.com]

I had to stop listening to Air American because Randi Rhodes is basically a liberal Matt Drudge (plus she went off on Libertarians one or two times too many), and Al Franken is, frankly, DULL on the radio. Switched over to the all financial talk radio (cash1700.com).

[bovil.livejournal.com]

I think that may be why Air America is having problems. They're "Off the Air America" now in Santa Cruz, one of the most liberal radio markets in the country. Limbaugh-esque and Druge-esque attacks don't even sell to a large portion of the liberal radio audience. Moderates are looking for detailed examinations of the issues from different perspectives, and NPR Talk already provides that (which is why they're demonized by the right).