Trouble Is We Have No National Counter To Pervasive Hate Media. And It Matters.

[TheMastersNemesis]

As a progressive I used to listen to progressive radio just before and during the Obama era. But over time virtually every progressive radio station that was growing was bought up and shut down, turned into sports talk, or religious radio. Some was even turned into right wing radio.

And these outlets blast over 90% of the nation 24/7. When you cross the country and tune into local radio all you get is Hannity, Limbaugh, North, and a bevy of hate talkers. You get it after the farm report and after local sports in information. You simply cannot find any other kind of station.

You can literally go from East Coast to the West Coast and from north to south and that is ALL you get. And it does matter. Imagine a farmer or rural community that tunes into it local stations virtually all day long. Imagine the farm plowing his fields or harvesting driving miles up and down fields in a near trance going down row after row for 14 hours in a day with that garbage on.

The progressive side has no voice anywhere. Common sense and critical thinking only goes so far against this racist hateful diatribe. Democrats seem to ignore this kind of media too much. And when we did have progressive stations the local Democrats never listened and local politicians did NOT go on the local shows.

You can have the best message on the planet, but it is meaningless if no one hears it.

[AJT]

1. I truly believe that rightwing media over the last 30 years is why we are at this point.

[TheMastersNemesis]

2. As I Have Traveled Over US In Recent Years Listening To Local Radio Was Depressing.

So I just use my IPOD in my system. Local radio used to be kind of interesting.

[appalachiablue]

11. Agree. Mass media, the most powerful modern communication tool, still.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Coughlin



Father Coughlin, Grandfather of hate talk radio & televangelism in 1930s Detroit, Michigan.

Father Charles Coughlin hosted a weekly radio broadcast in the 1930s with a national following of tens of thousands of people. The popular "Radio Priest" promoted pro fascist, anti Semitic, anti democratic, isolationist and conspiracy views throughout the country for years. In 1939 when war broke out in Europe, the Vatican, FDR's govt. and Joe Kennedy Sr. finally brought down the dangerous hate monger demagogue.

[rurallib]

3. the only ubiquitous alternative is NPR and they aren't really much of an alternative.

They cower any time the right says anything - so these days their stories lean right with lots of omission of relevant data.

I tried to drum up support for lefty radio in my state about 20 years ago to tally deaf ears. So I gave up beating my head against the wall.

We are about to lose our final outpost - the internet. Anyone who thinks that losing net neutrality won't be devastating to the left is fooling themselves.

[appalachiablue]

15. I hear you, things look pretty grim now unless something changes, maybe so.

But Not in 30 MORE years. We won't be a democracy or one country anymore at this rate. With the rapid consolidation of media into 5 giants in the last 20 years, it's plain spooky to only hear and see RW broadcast news with Nothing mainstream on the left now except MSNBC. In my metro area, on FM radio there's bland center news or slick RW biased commentary. That's ALL and it's very dangerous.

[rurallib]

16. I sure wouldn't bow to MSNBC as the solution

There are some shows that are lefty, But morning Joe is quite Repub and many of their panel regulars are Republicans. But they are closer than anyone else.

Free Speech TV is about the only real left channel on tv, but most have never heard of it.
On the radio there are a few local stations in some big cities, but they are few.

I bought an internet radio just to be able to get those stations after the 2016 election. I usually listen to KTNF am950 in Minneapolis.

[poboy2]

4. We are 'going high'. Works well, doesn't it. -nt

[TheMastersNemesis]

5. Fighting Back Is Too Low For Many. We Must Pontificate Nicely.

[appalachiablue]

7. The 'we're above it' view is prominent among many here as several

lengthy discussions in the last few months have shown. It's a dismissive, curious blind spot that suggests some are ok with it but why. Toxic hate media in the US is fueling more division, dysfunction and decline.

Father Coughlin, grandfather of hate talk radio in Mich. in the 1930s; pro fascism, anti semitic, forced off the air in 1939.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Coughlin

[TheMastersNemesis]

9. A Lot Of GOP Rhetoric Deserves A Sharp Tongued Vicious Response. Not Playing Powder Puff.

We have to be willing to get into verbal combat with these people. They have made it clear they are out to silence any opposition.

[appalachiablue]

12. The power of RW hate media over 30 years has had a serious impact

on politics and economics in this country, no question. PBS and NPR are good news outlets but increasingly their viewpoint is centrist/right and impacted by corporate funding.

The owners of MSNBC like most major media conglomerates are conservative, and the range of issues omitted by the network is significant: labor, income inequality, climate change, net neutrality, MIC, mass demonstrations, etc.

Why can't an individual like Tom Steyer or the Patriotic Millionaires group set up a successful counter media outlet that's accessible in all venues, broadcast, print and internet, and when?

There are a number of progressive, alternative news outlets on the left but unfortunately they aren't well known enough and a scatter shot media approach can't make a dent in the vast amount of ultraconservative media on the hard right from decades of Hate Radio starting in 1987 with Rush & Co., and free Fox TV in 1996.

Yes, there may be a great message out there but if no one hears it, it's a tragic waste of important brain energy and human effort. As my father would say, "They'll be singing on the mountain but you won't be there to hear them."

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

6. Perhaps you haven't heard that Bernie is building a media empire...

and tune into The Bernie Sanders show. It's gaining quite the following... it's awesome!

[TheMastersNemesis]

8. Bernie At Least Challenges Back & He Pushes Progressive Ideas.

Too many GOPPERS are allowed to shoot their mouth off with no kick back or response. And many times the responses are tepid and ineffectual.

[ThoughtCriminal]

10. Advertisers want a gullible audience

which is what RW radio delivers.

[appalachiablue]

13. Kick

[EffieBlack]

14. How do you counter them without becoming a version of them?

And who would be the audience?