By Bryan Bartlett
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-948976.mp3
Lexington, Ky – Justified or not, conservative talk shows have been blamed for a lack of civility in American society. The hosts of these radio programs are often provocative, critical of President Obama, his Democratic colleagues and liberal causes, and they're highly profitable. Kentucky Public Radio's Bryan Bartlett reports on the market forces that power conservative talk radio.
The opening salvo of the current debate on civility came on January 8th, when the sheriff of Pima County suggested the angry tone of political discourse led directly to a violent incident at a political event. Since the shootings in Tucson that killed six people and wounded a member of Congress, such political rhetoric in the media has been under scrutiny including conservative talk radio.
Leland Conway is a conservative talk radio host who broadcasts on WLAP in Lexington, Kentucky. Conway says that such criticism is often unfairly attributed to programs like his.
IN: "There's kind of a befuddled sense of a lot of the listenership of talk radio who are trying to figure out why a media double standard exists that every time some crazy idiot goes off balance and commits an act like this, it s immediately blamed on the Tea Party or on Rush Limbaugh or talk radio, etc a lot of people are trying to figure out why that seems to be the case these days."
Conway says vitriolic rhetoric is healthy and has been around for a long time.
" if you wanna go back to our founding fathers and when this country was being forged and see some of the back and forth articles written under pen names of Benjamin Franklin and others of the founding fathers, they might see what might be considered vitriolic rhetoric, but really it was just strong opinions being held forth, and it's something I think is very healthy in our society."
Indeed, it likely will NOT change. Programs like those hosted by conservative jocks Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck generate millions of dollars in advertising revenues for the radio and television stations carrying those very popular shows.
Doctor Bob Lochte chairs the Journalism and Mass Communication Department at Murray State University. Whether it's radio or television, Lochte says, those media have a real financial stake in creating and maintaining controversy on the political scene.
"Quite frankly, each election cycle raises and spends a lot more money than the last one does. And more that we couldn t imagine ten years ago how many billions of dollars are being spent trying to get people elected to office, or trying to keep people in office once they ve been elected. And a lot of that money goes to television; and some of it goes to radio. So, from the standpoint of commercial broadcasting, keeping the controversy alive means the cash register rings more often."
Lochte is quick to point out there can be a marked contrast between the rhetoric heard on talk radio and opinions shared in daily conversation
"On a local level, I sit and talk politics with people and no one is screaming at each other ya know no one is screaming at each other on a local level over a cup of coffee. So I can't tell how much of this is manufactured drama for whatever reason and how much of the civility problems that we think we have are, in fact, real."
Bill Lamb is a former radio man who's now the General Manager of WDRB television the FOX affiliate in Louisville. Lamb agrees there's been a decline in civility, and wishes courtesy in public behavior was again the norm and not the exception. In part, he also blames modern media.
"I don t think, for example, reality television particularly the stuff you see on cable has helped one bit. I think it s glorified some very borish behavior; and I think that as a culture in a society, we have willingly given away an awful lot of our civility."
Lamb isn't hopeful the current debate on civility will change the tone that prevails on conservative talk radio. Where there's vitriolic rhetoric, he says, there are also ad sales.
"They generate a lot of listeners and listeners generate advertisers. So I would say they're not making tens of millions of dollars a year on their good looks. They're doing it by generating audience"
But Lexington talk show host, Leland Conway, says that what he does on the air is NOT rancor for the sake of rancor.
"I talk about what bothers me. I don't have a pre-prescribed agenda that says ok today I must talk about this to keep people mad' in fact, I think that would be morally wrong to do that"
Science fiction author Robert Heinlein wrote in his 1982 novel "Friday," that "Sick cultures show a complex of symptoms but a dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than a riot". But the question remains, does it sell?