It appears Ohio is about to lose, or has already lost, all but one of it's progressive talk stations. This is a travesty, particularly in light of the near-total sweep of the Democrats in the state in the 2006 elections!
Here is a link to a Columbus Dispatch story detailing the death of one of the beacons of hope for me in Columbus: AM 1230, the local home of Air America, Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz.
Now, I've never been really impressed with Air America hosts and didn't really listen to most of them (save Rachel Maddow). But I really enjoyed Stephanie Miller, and say what you will about him, Ed Schultz had a way of connecting with Democrats around here.
Get out the vote and Democratic voter motivation are hard enough here as is; we had the second lowest total turnout in 2006 of any county in Ohio!
Progressive radio is losing it's voice once more in this critical swing state. We've already lost WSAI in Cincy, now we're losing WTPG in Columbus. That leaves only WARF in Akron broadcasting progressive talk.
Instead, what are we getting? Michael Savage and Laura Ingram. And the third conservative talker in Columbus.
Damn it all to hell. The Wurlitzer is alive and well and growing here. Guess the election of 2006 showed liberal talk was just too dangerous for Bush supporters like Clear Channel to keep around.
Say what you will, losing these outlets two years before the 2008 elections is going to hurt. Alot. And I'm not sure there's anything whatsoever anyone can do about it. The site, www.progrssive1230.com, doesn't even have an email link, and the message board is nonfunctional. (No surprises there). I've heard massive protests and a major petition drive reversed this travesty in Madison, WI, but I am not even sure where to begin here.
Any suggestions, or is all hope lost?