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Talk show host misleads

Monday, March 8th, 2010

It’s illegal for children to collect signatures for ballot initiatives in Colorado.

That’s why my jaw dropped when I heard radio talk show host Bob Enyart, during a live broadcast Thursday, say, “So, my son today got 20 signatures so far. My son, he’s 12.”

Enyart has been imploring his listeners to gather 20,000 signatures needed to place an initiative on the Colorado ballot that would define human life as beginning when a human sperm enters a human egg and a zygote forms.  Nothing wrong with a talk show host imploring people to do things, but they should be clear about what’s legal.

Backers of the initiative initially failed to turn in the required 76,000 valid signatures, but they’ve been given two weeks to collect more signatures. A similar initiative lost in 2008 by at 3 to 1 margin.

On his talk radio show, “Bob Enyart Live,” during a program titled “Blue in Faith” on March 4, Enyart and his co-host had a discussion about gathering petitions for the ballot initiative. The show airs weekdays on KLTT 670 AM in Denver and at other times elsewhere.

On Thursday’s show, Enyart encouraged his listeners to collect signatures at churches and public events. He said, “We got 15 days to get 20,000 signatures. We have 10 teams. Each time has to get 2,000 signatures.”

Later in the segment , Enyart says that his 12-year-old son got signatures, which…-if it were true…-is a violation of Colorado’s rules for collecting signatures, according to the website of the Colorado Secretary of State, which states that in order to circulate an initiative petition, you must be “at least eighteen years old at the time that the petition is circulated.”

In a discussion with his co-host, Enyart said his 12-year-old son was being “supervised,” but the Secretary of State’s rules do not state that a supervised a child would be allowed to collect signatures on an initiative position.

Prompted by his co-host, Enyart later stated about that “actually, he’s [his son] like the PR guy.”

But still, a reasonable listener could conclude that Enyart’s 12-year-old son was illegally gathering signatures for the initiative…-especially because Enyart was so gushing about the benefits of kids being involved in signature gathering.

“They [kids] love this,” Enyart said on the air. “They love it.”

[His 12-year old is way different than mine, I’m afraid to say.]

This exchange followed:

Enyart’s co-host: When you’re out there with them [kids], it really gives you hope for the future.

Enyart: Yeah. Hope for the future. And here are kids learning to be bold for the Lord-
Co-host: Amen!
Enyart:  and for the innocent. Isn’t that what we want of our children? Instead of having mom and dad just sit on the couch and watch, I don’t know, the cooking channel-.

Enyart’s statements, while not incriminating, are certainly confusing. So I called him to find out about his son’s role.

“He’s not a registered voter,” Enyart told me. “But he enjoys going to the store or a church with his mom or dad and saying to people, …Did you sign the personhood petition?’ And then however many signatures we get, he thinks that he got em. Our three youngest boys are 8, 10, and 12. So it’s like, you know, going deep sea fishing with dad.  Whatever dad catches, he thinks he caught.”

[Again, my kids differ. My own 12-year-old would undoubtedly catch more fish than I would.]

I suggested that Enyart clarify on the air that 1) it’s illegal under Colorado law for children to collect signatures for ballot initiatives and 2) his son was not, in fact, collecting signatures for the initiative.

He readily agreed, saying, “Yeah, I think that’s good advice. I could do that today. We do the show live each day. Yeah, that’s very good.”

Here’s partial transcript of Enyart’s March 4 show, which begins after Enyart and his co-host were discussing whether the crowd going to see Mary Poppins at the DCPA would be a good target for signature gathering:

Bob Enyart

So, my son today got 20 signatures so far.

Co-host

Wow.

Enyart:

My son, he’s 12.

Co-host:

So he got them while you were supervising…-or your wife…-was supervising him, of course.

Enyart:                 

Well, he was being supervised. So, actually, he’s like the PR guy.

Co-host:              

He’s standing there with a sign?

Enyart:                 

He doesn’t say, “Will you sign the pro-life petition?” He says, “Have you signed the pro-life petition? And then he says, “Oh, look we need three more signatures so we can turn the page.”

Co-host:              

Yeah, yeah, my daughter Nicole does that. I’ll tell you what the little kids-

Enyart:                 

They love this. They love it.

Co-host:

When you’re out there with them, it really gives you hope for the future.

Enyart:

Yeah. Hope for the future. And here are kids learning to be bold for the Lord-

Co-host:

Amen!

Enyart:

and for the innocent. Isn’t that what we want of our children? Instead of having mom and dad just sit on the couch and watch, I don’t know, the cooking channel. Nothing wrong with the cooking channel that I know of.

Co-host:

No, but if you’re sitting there watching the Food Network while the world around you is on fire and collapsing and you don’t do anything-I’m not saying you can’t watch Diners, Drive-ins and Dives once in a while. I’m just saying, get out there and do something for the Lord-

Enyart

Is that a good show, really?

Co-host

Well, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives is good if you can stand the guy’s tattoos and earrings. You have to get past that-.

Enyart

I gave up on all that when they had Trading Spaces. You remember that show?

Co-host

That’s the HGTV. Home Owned Gay Television. Have you ever tried to watch that? -They have house hunters. Every third couple, let’s just say they got married in Vermont. I’ll leave it at that.

Posted in Talk Radio | No Comments »

Tancredo happy about Rocky closure

Friday, May 29th, 2009

On KHOW’s Peter Boyles’ show this morning, former Congressman Tom Tancredo said that the day the Rocky closed was the “happiest day of [his] life” because he thought it meant that Rocky columnist Mike Littwin would be silenced.

What a drag for Trancredo that Littwin landed at The Post.

Posted in Talk Radio | 1 Comment »

Caldara discovers I’m an activist!

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

I bumped into Jon Caldara at his stimulating anti-stimulus rally last week. I asked him if his pig reminded him of anyone. He said it reminded him of himself, with more hair.

 

He wasn’t so good humored later when he seemed to think it was a giant scandal that I’ve worked for Progress Now Action.

 

Later on his radio show (spotlighted by Colorado Media Matters), Caldara accused me of being an activist like him. Can you believe it?

 

How could I write a freelance media-criticism column for the Rocky and be an activist at the same time, he wanted to know. The same way he’s a talk show host and an activist. The same way his employee Dave Kopel is an activist (paid by Caldara’s own activist group, the Independence Institute) and is also a media commentator for the Rocky.

 

I think I’m beginning to understand why all these conservative talk show hosts think the reporters are lefties. Caldara’s fellow conservative talk show host Gunny Bob was also flabbergasted to find out I’m biased.

 

They must not be reading the newspaper very closely.

 

I have to admit, I thought Caldara was smarter than Gunny, but maybe they both don’t make the distinction between an opinion column like mine, found in the commentary section of the newspaper, and the news section, which is found in the front and is more popular.

 

Maybe Caldara reads the newspaper backwards, and so he thinks the commentary is actually the news?

 

At the Rocky, in my media column, I’m hired to critique the news from a leftist’s perspective. I try to be fair, and I write a disclosure when a client’s positions touch on something I’m writing about.

 

But I’m supposed to view the news from the perspective of the political left. Just like Caldara’s employee, Dave Kopel, critiques the news from his right-leaning perspective.

 

 

 

Posted in Talk Radio | No Comments »

Caldara on swastika coverage

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

The Independence Institute’s Jon Caldara is outraged that the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post covered the “swastika guy” hugging nationally syndicated columnist Michele Malkin at Caldara’s anti-stimulus rally at the Colorado Capitol yesterday.

 

“The idea that the media would take this spun story, about some guy who stands up next to Michele Malkin, somehow that’s a story?” Caldara told me. “I looked at the photos, and there was a photo of [the swastika guy] standing next to another guy holding a sign that also said Obama but instead of a swastika, it had a hammer and sickle. That one didn’t seem to rile anybody even though many fold more died under the symbol of a hammer and sickle than a swastika. But that doesn’t get the same sort of media rage, and if you’re looking at this from a media point of view, I would hope in all honesty you would criticize the media for biting on such a transparent attack ploy.”

 

Reporters at Caldara’s rally saw some weird things. They saw a live pig. They saw a roasted pig. They saw a swastika. All these things are of note, and reporters were right to include them in their stories about the rally. That’s what The Denver Post did in its article.

 

The Rocky, according to Caldara, got its story about the swastika guy later, after ProgressNow Colorado and others posted the Malkin photo. Caldara makes this conclusion because the Rocky reporter tried to reach him after the rally had ended. The Rocky’s story references the Malkin photo on the blogs.

 

Should the Rocky have written 200 words about the photo? Yes.

 

I mean, if you see a photo of a prominent person hugging someone with a swastika in his hands, you have to wonder what’s going on. The Rocky contacted Penry, and he gave a response. The Rocky tried to reach Caldara. And the Rocky tried to reach Malkin as well, to find out the circumstances of the hug. It’s a valid question and a valid story, handled fairly and accurately by the Rocky.

 

Caldara disagrees. “It seemed like a low-blow story and a low-blow tactic of personal destruction that has [ProgressNow Colorado’s] Huttner’s marks all over it. To say, ah, we got a picture of some idiot next to Michele Malkin. Instead of addressing the stimulus package, let’s go after a swastika. It might be working for a certain crowd, but it certainly seems petty.”

 

I attended the rally with Huttner, and I don’t think it was petty to promote the Malkin photo.

 

Sure, as Caldara says, you could see ugly things at a rally of progressives, just like you saw at Caldara’s rally of righties. And if a person was holding a swastika and was caught on camera hugging a prominent lefty, reporters would have the right to ask questions about it.

 

As for the politics of personal destruction, take a look at what the Republicans tried to do to Barack Obama in the last election. Does William Ayers ring a bell?  

Posted in Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, Talk Radio | 1 Comment »

The strange behavior of Gunny Bob

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

I’ve been trying to convince journalists to post comments on the discussion boards under their articles online.

If more journalists would comment, we’d probably see more people opining there, with different points of view. This could raise the level of the debates on these discussion boards, and help educate people about journalism and the issues. It would also educate journalists, who need to hear more from citizens and interact with them more.

But journalists seem to have a snotty attitude toward the folks who use the discussion boards. I don’t blame them, to a degreee, but they should comment anyway. I know some journalists read them, but they don’t comment.

I also know a lot of people who read the discussion boards–but never leave a comment.

So I was surprised to find someone claiming to be Gunny Bob, a talk radio host on KOA, commenting on the discussion board under a recent Rocky column of mine. I’ve never seen a mainstream journalist’s name the discussion boards of the daiies? Have you?

I don’t mean to imply that Gunny is a journalist, but here’s what he had to say:

“Jason, during the campaigns you called into my show to express how gleeful you were that so many liberals “hate Bush.” You did this as you rode around in a farcically pedantic and sophomoric truck hauling statues of Bush and McCain embracing. You were giddy with intolerance, venom and loathing. That same embarrassing attitude comes across in your columns, as it does in Littwin’s, Campos’ and so on, as well as the paper’s frequently laughable editorials. When hate becomes the life blood of a media outlet, like Air America that outlet will fail. And you were a part of it. Your own bigotry, arrogance and hate has cost you your job and now you are blaming Scripps rather than yourself in any way. The truth hurts, Jason, but pain builds character.”

Now, it’s possible this wasn’t really Gunny, so I emailed him. He confirmed that he was the author. He seems to be a bit of a regular on the Rocky site. See his online comments in response to a blog by Rocky Editor John Temple.

I respect Gunny for commenting, even if his remarks don’t raise the quality of the online debate and even if his comment is ridiculous because he doesn’t explain why I’m a bigot.

In fact, if you’ll allow me to digress, Gunny appears to be a bigot himself, or completely clueless, judging from his recent comment spotlighted by Colorado Media Matters. Gunny said that if gays serve in the military, then more soldiers will be exposed to the HIV virus. CMM points out that HIV-positive military applicants are rejected and those who become HIV-positive during their service cannot serve overseas. Gunny’s comment sparked a national campaign asking KOA to reprimand Newman.

Oh well. My point is that it’s pretty pathetic that Gunny might be the only representative of the mainstream media who’s commenting on online articles.

Posted in Rocky Mountain News, Talk Radio | 1 Comment »

Gunny Bob discovers I’m biased!

Friday, October 17th, 2008

Last night I was helping to spread the word about the arrival in Denver of the Hug Mobile, a van pulling a life-sized representation of the now famous photo of Bush and McCain hugging.

I thought KOA’s Gunny Bob might enjoy it. He’s the extreme right winger on KOA, 85 AM, from 7 to 10 p.m.

I’ve never forwarded a news release to him before, but there’s something about the HUG that I thought he’d appreciate.

Gunny hasn’t always wanted to talk to me in the past, but he got right back to me this time.

First, here’s an excerpt of the news release I forwarded to Gunny.

McCain = Bush Hug Mobile Spotlights Denver Premiere of “W” Movie 

A Mobile, Life-Sized Statue of Bush Embracing McCain 

Vehicle Will Be Parked at 16th and Welton Oct. 17 at 12:30, Just Prior to the First Denver Showing of “W” 

Hug Mobile to Go on State-Wide Tour 

What: The “Bush = McCain” tour consists of a van pulling a flatbed trailer carrying a statue of McCain and Bush embracing. The hug statue replicates a real photo-widely seen this election season-of McCain and Bush, with arms wrapped around each other and with McCain’s head buried into the chest of the taller Bush. The Bush = McCain vehicle will travel across Colorado. Click here for more information. 

And Gunny’s response to receiving the news release:

GUNNY: You have taken to spamming members of the media? Are you serious? Does your employer know about this?

JASON: I thought you might be interested.GUNNY: How can the unbiased media critic for a major daily–any paper, for that matter–be working for a clearly biased political action group? We’ll be covering this on the show tonight. Care to comment?

I’ve been freelancing for the Rocky for years, and Gunny, who’s attacked me repeatedly in the past, hasn’t figured out that I’m biased! I’m a lefty media critic. He hasn’t noticed? I try to be fair, and I guess I’m doing my job pretty well.

But can Gunny read my frequent “disclosures” in my column, like “Disclosure: A client favors legalization of Marijuana” or “A client works for Democrats.”

On the other hand, if Gunny thinks I’m not biased, it might explain why he thinks the news media is so liberal. He appears to make no distinction between the commentary section of the newspaper and the news section. Maybe he reads the Saturday column by Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman in the Rocky and thinks it’s proof of liberal bias at the Rocky. I’ll ask him tonight, as you can see below.

JASON: Sure. I’m not unbiased. If you look at my tagline, you’ll see that I run a PR company. I’m constantly disclosing this in my column.I’m not a Rocky staffer. I’m a freelancer. Do you want me on your show to discuss.

GUNNY:  Thank you, yes. I shall have Dom contact you for a call-in time. I am on 7-10 this evening. JASON: Keep in mind that Dave Kopel, my counterpart, works for the unbiased Independence Institute.Maybe we can discuss whether a hug is an appropriate metaphor for the relationship between Bush and McCain?

For background on Gunny, see Colorado Media Matters here. Don’t forget CMM for background on other Denver journalists.

Posted in Talk Radio | No Comments »

A win for Rush, a loss for journalism

Monday, September 29th, 2008

In my Saturday column, I wrote that Kris Olinger, Director of AM Programming at Clear Channel here in Denver, decided not to add a left-leaning commentator during KOA’s morning newscast to balance Rush Limbaugh’s daily commentary.

This was disappointing because, in a previous email exchange, which I discussed in a previous column, Olinger seemed open to making her show more balanced journalistically. See my latest exchange with Olinger below.

From: Jason Salzman
Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 10:45 AM
To: ‘Olinger, Kristine’
Subject: Rush Commentary
 
Hi Kris …•
 
Last Saturday, I wrote a column (Read it here, if you want.) about the one-minute commentary by Rush Limbaugh on Colorado’s Morning News.
 
I suggested you add a commentary by Jim Hightower every other day to balance Rush’s conservative views. (Listen to Hightower here.) This would be in keeping with the journalistic values of KOA’s news department. I’m not suggesting you balance your talk lineup on KOA, just the commentary during your news program. Some readers thought I was suggesting that you need to add Hightower to your talk lineup.
 
Readers of my column suggested that talkers from AM 760 be given a one minute spot, but I assume this isn’t practical, since they don’t have one-minute commentaries ready to go. I could look into this, if you think you’d possibly use any of them.
 
So I’m writing to ask if you’re willing to broadcast Hightower?
 
Again, I respect very much your willingness to consider him and other options to balance Rush.
 
Jason


From: Olinger, Kristine
Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2008 3:56 PM
To: jason salzman
Subject: RE: Rush Commentary
 
Jason,
 
I’m sorry it’s taken awhile to get back to you.  We’ve been busy with conventions etc.  I’m familiar with Jim Hightower.  I don’t think he’s the right fit for the Denver market.  He certainly doesn’t have the following or name recognition of Rush or Paul Harvey and he would be an expensive addition.
Beyond that, I’m curious why you’re not demanding that we air a conservative viewpoint on AM760 Colorado’s Progressive Station or that NPR add more conservative content? 
Kris Olinger
  From: Jason Salzman
Sent: Sun 9/7/2008 4:00 PM
To: Olinger, Kristine
Subject: RE: Rush Commentary


Hi …•
 
My point is that Colorado’s Morning News is a newscast that reflects journalistic values of fairness, except there’s a daily conservative commentary in the middle of it that’s not balanced by a liberal commentary.  I’m not saying you need a liberal talker on KOA for three hours to balance Rush. I just think that, in keeping with the journalism that you present on Colorado’s Morning News, you should offer a commentator from the left as well as the right.
 
There’s no newscast on AM760. There’s no news show like CO Morning News.
 
Please see my column for a longer explanation here.
 
JASON
 
From: Olinger, Kristine
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 9:20 PM
To: jason@effectcommunications.com
Subject: RE: Rush Commentary
 Hey Jason,
 
First things first.  AM760 does carry newscasts.  From 6a – 10a we carry a CBS cast followed by a local cast Monday – Friday.  We carry a CBS cast every hour the rest of the day.  We carry a significant amount of CBS long-form coverage on national events.  Do you listen to the station?  Have you ever listened to AM760? 
 
You neglected to respond to my question about NPR…specifically in morning drive.  I’d like a response.
Finally, in answer to your concerns about Colorado’s Morning News, I read your column the day it was printed.  My issue with you has always been your lack of knowledge and accuracy about radio, not your viewpoint. 
See AM760 correction above and your lack of response to the NPR question.
You seem to have some admiration for the 850KOA News Department but still can’t help yourself from taking shots.  Colorado’s Morning News is not an ALL NEWS radio product such as WCBS or KCBS.  It is more like a newspaper (horrors) or a TV morning show that covers a lot of ground.  It has been for as long as I can remember.  Yes, KOA leans right and male.  That’s the audience we serve.  We cover a lot of sports (horrors) because that’s what our audience wants.  What audience does the Rocky serve?  What audience does the Denver Post serve?  Do the newspapers include “fluff” as you call it?  That would include features on anything from rock concerts to gardening to home improvement to movies to silly feature stories about Paris Hilton to features about Health or Kids?  Does that content take away from the hard work both newspaper’s reporters do each day?  Come on.  Can our anchors do better.  Of course, we can all do better. Should they robatically deliver only the “news”  every morning for four hours?  I don’t think so.


Finally, Rush is as entertaining as he is political.  Like it or not, he has a huge following and we will continue to carry his commentary and show as we will continue to carry Mike Rosen’s “tease” during CMN and his show.


I still want an answer on NPR and I would like you to include AM760 and KHOW in this debate.  Clear Channel Denver is offering listenings great options with KOA, KHOW and AM760.  Aren’t we?


Love the debate (horrors).  I think it’s healthy.


Kris Olinger


From: Jason Salzman
Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2008 9:58 PM
To: ‘Olinger, Kristine’
Subject: RE: Rush Commentary


Hey, I like a debate, too. And I respect you for answering my questions. Thanks.
  Yes, I listen to AM760. It’s got a puny newscast, nothing like Colorado’s Morning News. It’s not comparable. No reporters. The CBS cast is completely different. I’m glad you’ve got CBS and the headlines during Marvin, but if you’re looking for breaking news and serious news reports and fair-minded interviews in the morning in Denver on the radio, your choice is really KOA or KCFR…-though KCFR is much more about the national news from NPR and much less from Denver.
 

Still, your question about KCFR’s local newscast is more relevant, but please point out how it’s biased. I don’t hear a conservative or liberal commentator on the show every day with no counterpoint. Colorado Matters, the local interview show on KCFR, is journalistically sound, but it occurs outside the newscast anyway.
 I like CMN. I’d personally like less sports and fluff, and I like less in the newspaper, too. But I still like CMN partly because there’s at least an effort to be fair and accurate. (I try to be fair and accurate, too; please point out all errors you spot in my column. I’d really appreciate this.)
 

You’ve got two conservative commentators “teasing” during CMN. Their “teases,” especially Rush’s, amount to a political message embedded in your newscast, which otherwise strives to be fair. This degrades your show. Why not add a liberal commentator, as you initially said you might do, if you found the right one. Why isn’t Hightower right?
 Yes, I know KOA leans right. That’s ok. But your newscast, which acts like it’s a journalistic enterprise, shouldn’t lean right. Do you disagree?
 

Does CMN lean right?
 Jason
 

Olinger never replied to my last email above, and she was too busy to talk to me on the phone the day before my column deadline last week.

I give her credit for engaging with me, but I still don’t understand why she won’t air Hightower…-if she wants Colorado’s Morning News to look more like a serious journalistic effort. I mean, why not, given that she understands the need for balance on her show?

Posted in Media Bias, Talk Radio | No Comments »

Rosen and Gunny

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

I’ve been emailing a couple of Denver’s conservative talk show hosts recently.
I had an extremely unproductive exchange with Bob “Gunny” Newman, host of KOA’s “The Gunny Bob Show.” Gunny’s listed me on his website as a “media extremist.”
I simply asked him if he would be glad if one or both of Denver’s daily newspapers were to shut down. His response:
Now now, Jason. I saw your ambush coming last time, just like this time. I find it sad you hold the 1st Amendment in such low regard, but the beauty of that amendment is that you have that right, which I trust, you, too, risked your life to defend.
Hmm. What? Let me know if you understand what he’s talking about. Plus, me, ambush somebody? Never. I don’t own a weapon.
A few months ago, I tried to find out why Cumberland Press canceled Gunny’s book contract, but Gunny never responded, despite repeated phone calls and emails on my part. I guess that constitutes an ambush in his mind.
Oh well. He’s paranoid.
Mike Rosen is much easier to reach. He’s always responded quickly to my emails. Last week, we debated my view that he should have accepted questions from listeners for his interview with John McCain. I mentioned this in my latest column.
He threatened not to respond to my emails again if I quoted him out of context in my column, and I told him I’d paste our entire exchange on my blog. So here it is.
Jason — Hi Mike …•I was listening to KOA’s morning news last week and the host asked if you wanted to receive email questions from listeners for John McCain. You said no, adding, “I’ve got my own darn questions.”
Do you really think so little of the intelligence of your listeners? Why didn’t you want to receive their questions? Don’t you think that it’s the listeners, as well as the guests, who make for great talk radio?
For my column or blog, do you have a minute to answer these questions?
Thanks.
Mike …• Jason. I’ve found my self-selected audience to be generally more intelligent and politically sophisticated than that of most other talk shows.  I usually invite callers to question a guest, as I did with Steve Forbes who was in the studio for an hour, today.  In this case, the McCain people told us that we had only an 8-10 minute window with the Senator over the phone before he boarded his flight to Denver.  So many topics, so little time. I thought that time would be more productively spent with a few carefully focused questions from me.  Mike 
Jason — Thanks, Mike. Why wouldn’t you have benefited from input from listeners in coming up with your “carefully focused questions?” Jason
Mike — Jason, If you’d hosted a talk show for almost 30 years as I have, you’d understand better.  As Forest Gump might put it, talk radio callers, even when they’re screened, are like a box of chocolates: on the air you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get.  Some are very good, some ramble incoherently and some are abusive.  When you only have a few minutes with a guest like McCain, it’s not worth the risk.  Talk shows aren’t a townhall meeting. Mike

Jason — Thanks.  I understand what you’re saying, but in this case you were asked if you wanted listeners to email you questions for McCain. Jason
 

Mike — Jason, On my a show, I don’t normally respond to live e-mails or instant messages on the air and I don’t ask listeners to help me frame questions to guests in advance.  It’s a call-in show and when I take calls I prefer live voices, it’s better radio interaction. Since McCain was using the Denver event to focus on economic issues, he asked that we concentrate on that during the brief  8-10 minute interview.  I agreed and oriented my first questions on that topic.  I also threw in a couple of questions on drilling for oil offshore and in ANWR, hoping to nudge McCain to announce a policy change regarding ANWR.  That was my agenda (I think he’d be well advised to do that as good policy and as a vote getter) and it would have been national news had he done so.  (He didn’t bite but when I followed up, he at least said he’d consider it.)  Beyond that, there wasn’t time for much else.  Talk radio isn’t always caller radio.  Only a tiny fraction of listeners ever call.  You seem to think a talk radio show is a democracy.  It isn’t and you can’t let callers program your show.  Talk show hosts that fail to understand that, tend to fail as talk show hosts.

 

If I weren’t watching the MLB All Star game (now in the 13th inning) while answering my e-mails, I’d be in bed by now. Mike

Jason — Thanks. April Zesbaugh simply asked if you wanted to get email suggestions. That’s all. You said no. I see this as closed minded, even arrogant, coming from a talk show host. Jason
 

Mike — Jason, “Close minded” and arrogant?”  Please.  Do you suppose you’re overreacting a bit?  I’ve explained my reasoning to you as best as I can. If you don’t understand or see it differently, so be it. 

 

As a man of the left, you seem to have a collectivist view of most things.  The “Mike Rosen Show” on KOA isn’t a commune.  I haven’t asked listeners to write my scripts in three decades and I’ve never asked them to write questions for my guests.  Perhaps you’re confusing my show with that candidates “debate” involving You Tube submissions, like the stupid snowman on global warming.

 

The last time I had McCain in the studio for an interview, I asked him my own questions but since we had more time, we were also able to take questions from callers.  As I explained earlier, there just wasn’t time for that on this occasion.  

 

Since my approach to talk radio is apparently different from yours, I encourage you to put it to a market test and see how well you’d do with your own show.  Your politics would blend nicely with Jay Marvin’s.  Perhaps he’d let you fill in for him.

 

If you use any of this please quote me accurately and in context if you expect me to respond to you in the future. Mike

Jason — Thanks.
I wrote that you were closed-minded in this instance. I know you allow a variety of callers on your show.
You might have benefited from the input of listeners. That’s my point.
I will say that you pointed out the it was a short segment with McCain that you thought would be more productively spent with your own focused questions. I don’t have space for a long response from you. I will add all of this to my blog, however, if ok with you for all to see.
I try to be fair. Jason
 

Mike …• ok.

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Marvin vs. Polis

Monday, June 23rd, 2008

Jay Marvin is Denver’s only local progressive talk show host on commercial radio. You can hear him on AM 760 in the mornings. That’s the Clear Channel Station that carries some Air America programming.

The news media love it when progressives fight each other, just like they love it when conservatives fight among themselves. So when Marvin and congressional candidate Jared Polis got into an argument in mid July, it made news. The Rocky covered the spat and subsequent radio interview here and here.

I heard most of Marvin’s interview with Polis, and I liked it. Aggressive questioning makes for good entertainment, and it’s informative. It makes much better radio than an on-air love fest among progressives on AM 760.

But I had this question for Marvin, which I emailed to him last week:

I must say it was odd that you elected to be so aggressive with him, after being so gentle with the others. Do you have any thoughts on this, for possible use in my column or blog?

Here’s Marvin’s response:

“Sure I do. Things would not have gone down the way they did if he had not come on so strong with myself and my producer John Turk. We told his press people three times the time slot was after 9am. They kept badgering us to put him on earlier. We said no. Then, Polis himself shows up, uninvited, to the station and that puts us in a spot. So John goes down to talk to him, and when he tells Polis we were going to do two hours on child poverty in Colorado he reacted in a negative manner about it. Like it was more important we get him on than the subject we were going to do. So when he came on I asked him to apologize to John, and he wouldn’t. In fact he said he was glad to come on and get my show some publicity! So he wouldn’t say he was sorry he just kept going over the publicity line. When I asked him direct questions he wouldn’t answer them. Then when I hit him with the Swift Boat donor information he didn’t say it was wrong. He said he had turned those people liberal. I checked with two other people running for office, and both said they would have returned the money. In fact he tried to suggest that Udall and Pearlmutter had taken money from  people who gave to the Swift Boat campaign. That got him a blast from Congressman Peralmutter and Senator John Kerry. The easy and right thing to do would have been to say he was sorry, and to say he’d return the money given him. Then his press flack Becker tells the Daily Camera I’m in Joan’s pocket and that it’s all political. I don’t even live in that district, and I do like Joan. But I’m not sure who would be better Joan or Will. I do know this: Polis has got an attitude that just won’t quit and an ego as large as his district. I also think he is trying to buy the election. In short, Polis doesn’t care about anything but himself. Sad.
 

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Talk radio illusions

Friday, May 30th, 2008

The unreal world of talk radio is multi-dimensional.

 

 

The most destructive illusion is that the topics debated on talk radio are on the minds of most people. In fact, talk radio is actually disconnected from most people’s reality…-except a narrow band of folks, which includes many journalists and other influentials, who actually listen to it. 

 

Put it this way. If you and your friends listen to talk radio, and you and your friends happen to be journalists or policy wonks, and you talk together about what you heard on talk radio, you tend to forget that talk radio is irrelevant for most people. Issues on talk radio seem more important than they actually are. 

 

Even savvy media consumers sometimes mistake the talk radio world for the real one.

 

Another illusion is that talk radio is somehow a free and open forum for the people’s voice. I addressed this in my Sat. Rocky column. As you know if you listen to talk radio, these shows are really about the voice of the talk show host, not the voice of the people.

Against this backdrop, is the most serious problem about talk radio. Some of the most popular shows are filled with distortions and outright falsehoods. The talk radio debate about immigration is a tragic case in point.

Colorado Media Matters did a great job analyzing how the issue is treated by some talk radio shows in Denver–as well as other broadcast media. Its report on this topic gives you a good framework to understand the methods used to hype this issue, drum up uninformed fear about it, and in the end boost the ratings of the shows promoting the falsehoods and distortions. Yuck.

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