I just wrote a letter to the editor at the Columbus Dispatch.
I was responding to an ealier letter criticizing Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland for rejecting federal "abstinence until marriage" funds, and I replied that the complaining letter was framed wrong. He was not rejecting "abstinence until marriage" but "abstinence-ONLY," which has been an abject failure, resulting in record cases of STDs nationwide and the first rise in teenage births in 15 years.
How did I know those facts--including the "abstinence-only" frame correction? Normally I get such info here (at least, before DKOS became the all-Hillary-Obama-Edwards-all-the-time blog), but this time I knew because I heard it talked about last week on progressive radio.
WHY RADIO MATTERS
I learned my facts because I tuned in to the only truly progressive radio station in Ohio. WVKO AM 1580. It is in Columbus, and before it started December 3, all I could hear in my town was right-wing blather on six talk stations (WLGN, WRFD, WTVN, WTDA, WLW, and WYTS; and more with a better radio).
Take a look at any traffic filled street, road, or freeway in most of the country. What you see are a multitude of portable right-wing echo chambers telling America that the civil war in Iraq is a "war on terror," "the surge worked," "global warming is a hoax," "Hillary is a "bitch," teaching real sex-ed is "anti-abstinence," and on and on.
Right-wing radio is a major frame creator, and the corporate media mindlessly follows. Even NPR (although reality-based, and deserving our support), is at the most "passive-progressive," often correcting the facts, but seldom the frames, and probably never actually creating a progressive frame on its own.
BUT THERE IS NO DEMAND FOR PROGRESSIVE RADIO
Hogwash.
As Al Franken pointed out when he was still on the air, on a PER-STATION basis, his program met or beat Rush’s listenership. A few years ago a friend of mine checked this out with back-of-envelope numbers of his own (culling progressive stations from the web, and dividing them into Arbitron numbers), and confirmed Al was right--and Stephanie and Ed Shultz do even better.
To quote Center for American Progress’s Paul Woodhull--interviewed on Stephanie Miller-- "Progressive radio kicks ass." (BTW, read his report on radio, here.)
The indesputable fact is we are being FORCE FED right-wing radio. That’s definitely what happened in Ohio. Last year (after Howard Dean credited progressive radio with helping make Ohio Democratic), Clear Channel killed all three of its progressive stations in Ohio.
In response, here in Columbus, with only a few weeks notice, Progress Ohio and Ohio Majority Radio gathered about 5,600 signatures.
Yet, despite that response, and in a state that voted majority Democratic, and in a city that was even more blue, we are being told that there is no demand for radio for the other 75% of us who are fed up with Bush failures. (And yet we could support three Spanish language stations!?)
And just how did those three stations do after Clear Channel flipped them "for business reasons"? They tanked, falling so low they are now "asterisks" in Arbitron. After WYTS fell to last place here in Columbus, a Columbus Dispatch reporter asked Clear Channel if they would flip back. Clear Channel said no--they wanted to make sure they kept the "talent" (e.g., Michael Savage), for themselves. (And if they are ever on a sinking ship, I hope they similarly grab the anchor.)
BUT PROGRESSIVE RADIO CAN’T GET ADVERTISERS
Really. Check out the advertisers at our new progressive station after less than one month on the air.
Why is the station getting a rush of advertisers now, when it had so few after a year as a Clear Channel station?
Maybe Clear Channel wasn’t really trying. In fact, during an FCC round table in Columbus this year, one man recounted how he tried to buy time on WTPG, and the Clear Channel people mocked him! (They called him a hippy, he told me.)
And maybe it has to do with salespeople not knowing how to sell progressive programs--after 20 years of selling Rush and Rush-alike.
And maybe it has to do with Clear Channel putting progressive radio programs on its weakest signals (so weak that here in Columbus, when WTPG became right-wing WYTS, Glenn Beck refused to let it run his program).
And maybe it is the car showroom effect: When Clear Channel dominates a market, and has a whole showroom of stations to push, are salesmen going to talk about the Prius in the corner, or the Monster-Hummer in the front window?
WHAT YOU CAN DO
But enough preaching to the choir. Here is what you can do to help progressive radio.
IF YOU HAVE NO PROGRESSIVE STATION:
You face an uphill fight. But it can be done. We did it here in Columbus. First, form a group. The good news: There may already be a group in your area. To find if there is, see NonStopRadio.com If you see no group listed there for your area, email the webmaster. He can help you start one. (The webmaster is a friend of mine, and he was essential in our fight here in Columbus.)
IF YOU HAVE A PROGRESSIVE STATION:
- Tell your friends. Get a bumper sticker. Put a link on your web site or your sig. Talk it up. Email. Post diaries here and elsewhere.
- Buy from it’s local sponsors. Tell them where you heard of them. (Thom Hartman calls this a "buycott," and says it's 100 times more effective than a boycott.)
- Help it find sponsors. The station will have its "book" it uses to approach sponsors, and that’s not your job. But you can still help. Do you buy a pro-environment product or service? Point out to them that the local progressive station would be a focused medium--and their 30-second ads will NOT be sandwiched among 24/7 programming that dismisses as kooks those of us (actually, MOST of us) who care about green issues.
- Approach local Democrats. The Franklin County Democratic Party put a link to our station on their web site. The local Stonewalls Democrats did too. It’s good that they appreciate that a progressive radio station is the best friend the Democrats can have. (And when it comes time to run political ads, I hope they remember that buying an ad on a right-wing station is giving aid, comfort, and money to their own opponents.)
- Form a group (or see if a group exists). Again, NonStopRadio.com is a good place to start. A group is not only effective for supporting a station, it will also be important if you lose your station, and need to start planning to get a new one. For example, here in Columbus, when we learned Clear Channel was killing our only progressive station last year, our group made a list of sponsors, so when we got our new station on Dec. 3, we were prepared to get them back.
(Note: If your progressive station is Clear Channel, it may be because you have a courageous local executive. But that can easily change. So be prepared.)
Finally, I hope people here can post more suggestions and ideas. I’m open to learning, and can use all the ideas you can offer.
(And if you are in Central Ohio, and want to help WVKO 1580 AM, come join us, at OhioMajorityRadio.com - follow the link to join our Yahoo group.)