[Speed Gibson,
Wednesday November 24, 2004 at 1:42pm]
NPR vs Talk Radio
The Fraters picked up and critiqued blogger Joe Carter who felt NPR was better than Talk Radio. The original post and The Elder's response are lengthy but coherent and worth reading. They agreed on some points, such as Rush's best days are behind him. Rush has a prosecutor chasing him, has quietly ended his third marriage, and battles his loss of hearing with a cochlear implant. But through it all, he remains the Godfather of talk radio.
Time has mellowed him a little over the years. The Soviet Union is gone, no more Gorbasms. The homeless disappeared suddenly in 1993, so we didn't hear Clarence Frogman Henry for 8 years. But it's still the most successful program by far, and he has the best accompanying web site as well. FYI, I am a charter subscriber to Rush 24/7, so I can listen as I am right now via the internet, without commercials.
Hugh Hewitt is #2 in my rankings, but he was a GOP shill at times (win by 40 states?). His support of a weak but wealthy Senate candidate (Pete Coors) in Colorado defies my understanding. Rush kept his head, and provided the best campaign coverage of all.
Another point: callers. Rush understands (insists) that callers are there to make the host look good. He screens better than most, and takes fewer calls than most. He can and does often use them as introductions to topics he wants to discuss. But usually there is at least one caller with a solid point, and very few bad callers.
Finally, we conservatives also read books, more so than NPR listeners I dare say, given the book sales figures.
Time has mellowed him a little over the years. The Soviet Union is gone, no more Gorbasms. The homeless disappeared suddenly in 1993, so we didn't hear Clarence Frogman Henry for 8 years. But it's still the most successful program by far, and he has the best accompanying web site as well. FYI, I am a charter subscriber to Rush 24/7, so I can listen as I am right now via the internet, without commercials.
Hugh Hewitt is #2 in my rankings, but he was a GOP shill at times (win by 40 states?). His support of a weak but wealthy Senate candidate (Pete Coors) in Colorado defies my understanding. Rush kept his head, and provided the best campaign coverage of all.
Another point: callers. Rush understands (insists) that callers are there to make the host look good. He screens better than most, and takes fewer calls than most. He can and does often use them as introductions to topics he wants to discuss. But usually there is at least one caller with a solid point, and very few bad callers.
Finally, we conservatives also read books, more so than NPR listeners I dare say, given the book sales figures.