I would like to ask the organizers to mention our local progressive radio station during the event warm-up.
It’s virtually the only progressive station in the state (smack in the center), and a little boost to our ratings right now can help keep us on the air--at least through the election.
From this diary I see that Obama recently kicked back at the media (finally a candidate who feels our anger). So maybe they will help.
I know this is last minute, which is why I am posting it to DKOS.
The event I am talking about is at Dublin Coffman High School at 6:45 p.m. Saturday. (Dublin is a Columbus suburb.)
I am asking for just a brief mention, maybe along these lines.
EXAMPLE
Ladies and gentlemen.
There is a grass-roots group here in Ohio called Ohio Majority Radio--formed to support progressive radio in our state.
Their job is hard, but their focus is simple--since right now there is ONE progressive station in all of Ohio--WVKO 1580 AM--broadcasting in the critical center of this essentially important state for the upcoming election.
It is the one talk station in Ohio where you hear Rachel Maddow, Stephanie Miller, Thom Hartmann, and Ed Schultz.
It is the one talk station in Ohio where you do NOT hear Rush Limbaugh or his crowd, and that global warming is a hoax; and you don’t hear endless, mind numbing, discussions of Barak Obama's lapel jewelry.
Ohio Majority Radio asks that you support our station. That means listen to it, tell your friends, and buy from it's local sponsors--and tell them thanks.
One more time. Set your car radio presets to WVKO 1580 AM, with local programs, news, and sports.
And it is locally owned.
BACKGROUND
In 2006 John Dean credited the new AAR with helping turn the election tide. This was nowhere more important than Ohio, although we had just three progressive stations in the state. And shortly after, Clear Channel killed all three.
At that time, Ohio Majority Radio was formed (with help from NonStopRadio), and along with Progress Ohio, raised nearly 6,000 signatures asking that WTPG--our local progressive station--be spared.
We presented the petition to Clear Channel, thanking them for giving us WTPG, and pledging to support it. We were greeted at their headquarters by two WTPG banners, which Clear Channel had defaced with spray paint. And we were told to leave, or be arrested.
For a year, all talk radio in Ohio was right-wing.
But last December, a local radio manager put his mortgage on the line and started WVKO 1580 AM. It’s a rare, local mom-and-pop station; and already its numbers are beating the right-wing station that replaced WTPG. But much of radio is struggling in this bad economy, and WVKO does not have Clear Channel's or Sinclair's or Fox's deep pockets to dip into.
A few months ago, we almost lost the station, but an appeal to the petition signers bided us over, and we are trying to hang on, at least through this election, and hopefully long enough to get established.
Unpaid Ohio Majority Radio volunteers have done everything from creating the radio's web site, to programming its computers--and even set up its antennae.
It's labor of love for us. More than that, it's a labor against hate. (See my LTE below.)
Nationwide, 91% of radio is right wing. Without WVKO, every car in Ohio will be a Republican echo chamber. And yet more than half of Ohio voted Democratic last election. (Will the web save us? 45% of Ohioans have no high-speed access.)
Our nation, and our state, are nearly deaf from the incessant right-wing talking point drum beat, which is then picked up by the so-called mainstream media. Help us sound our progressive drum. It is small, but reality and truth do not need to be loud. They just need to be heard.
And for a little more background here is my letter to the editor, published in the Columbus Dispatch two Friday’s ago.
MY LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Radio stations should respect community
The Aug. 1 letter, "Radio host Savage recognizes problem," tried to portray rightwing radio as inevitable; just plain good business.
But, as Dispatch Staff Reporter Tim Feran noted on May 7, 2007, after progressive WTPG became the right-wing WYTS (1230 AM), its ratings dropped to dead last.
More than a year later, its ratings still are less than half what it pulled in under its liberal format, and it is already being beaten by the new progressive WVKO (1580 AM), which started only in December.
And WVKO is already beating WRFD (880 AM) and WLW (700 AM) as well, which means liberal hosts Stephanie Miller, Rachel Maddow, Thom Hartman, etc., draw more Columbus listeners than the likes of conservative hosts James Dobson, Bill Cunningham and Michael Savage.
I think this is not only because WVKO has local programs, news and sports, but also because its lineup of hosts is infinitely more entertaining than the whole ubiquitous and dismal herd of Rush Limbaugh and the Rush-alikes put together.
But even if right-wing radio were "good business," it would be bad for Columbus.
When Savage calls autistic children "brats," black kids "ghetto slime" and Mexicans "leaf blowers" who are "making war on the white race," and when he tells a gay caller to "get AIDS and die," he may be speaking for some communities, but not ours.
I’m not calling for censorship, and no one I know seriously advocates bringing back the unwieldy Fairness Doctrine. But we should restore the requirement for stations using the public airways to serve their communities and respect their values.
And even with no such requirement, a responsible station should no more consider broadcasting hate speech into our radios than its owners would contemplate dumping sewage in our streets.
And speaking of good business, WVKO is the one talk station in the state where local businesses can advertise without having their names identified with bigotry, anti-environmentalism and an extremist neocon drumbeat.
Ultimately, there is no good business without good citizenship.
(Note: In some localities, some brave local Clear Channel people have stood up for their progressive stations. Please support those too. But the best option is to have a local, independent stations, that are responsive to our communities.)