Wednesday, June 23, 2004 :::
P.J. O'Rourke asks, "When was the last time a conservative talk show changed a mind?" I hope he's not under the impression that that's their purpose.
The purpose of Limbaugh's show, O'Reilly's show, O'Reilly's book, Ann Coulter's book, Michael Moore's books, Al Franken's book, etc. is to entertain the home-team fans. People like to feel that someone's one of them, and they often enjoy hearing one of them make fun of those who aren't them. They entertain first, then they inform, and then, maybe, they'll occasionally persuade someone who is on the fence on a particular issue who usually agrees with the showman.
Non-profits like National Review probably tend to be more idealistic. I'm sure the people who frequent NRO are mostly on the home team, just as most of Limbaugh's listeners are. But Limbaugh's point is to get ratings. NRO's writers are where they are because they hope to inform their fellow conservatives and push the movement forward. They both need audiences, but in NRO's case, that's not their entire point.
The only time I remember yelling at the radio (as O'Rourke does when he listens to NPR) was when local host Howie Carr, whom I often agree with, was agreeing with me that we should invade Iraq. Every time he had a caller who disagreed with him, rather than attempt to answer the caller's point, he'd quiz the caller on military ranks, and deem him/her ignorant when (s)he got one wrong. I don't know whether he was unable to think of a good response, or whether he just thought this cuter, but it infuriated me. I think this was exacerbated by the fact that I usually had an immediate response, and genuinely wanted to hear a counter-response -- I was sure there were some good points to be made on the other side. Many of Howie's dissenters were blood-for-oil morons, but many of them weren't, and I wanted a chance to hear them.
If I've ever yelled at NPR, I don't remember it -- I do remember mocking things I heard on NPR, and laughing at comments that probably weren't meant as laugh lines. But I can't recall yelling.
Incidentally, O'Rourke makes this comment:I'm so conservative that I approve of San Francisco City Hall marriages, adoption by same-sex couples, and New Hampshire's recently ordained Episcopal bishop. Gays want to get married, have children, and go to church. Next they'll be advocating school vouchers, boycotting HBO, and voting Republican. The apartment I lived in a few years ago was shared with a quite-liberal gay fellow. We disagreed on most things political, but were generally able to discuss politics without sounding like Howie Carr. At one point, I made the comment that gay marriage might be good, as a means of discouraging homosexual promiscuity and encouraging deeper, lasting relationships. By the end of the conversation, he was arguing against gay marriage. I hadn't expected that.
Link from the Kitchen Cabinet.
::: posted by Steven at 1:16 AM
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