Re: WSRO sold

[ASchinella <ASchinella@aol.com>]

While it is true some right-wingers reign on talk radio, and more left-of-
center types are never given enough chances to speak, never mind to shine, the
spin is more corporate than conservative. Everything has the big business,
corporate spin to it and if you don't tow that line; whether from the left or
the right, you won't get on the air with the big companies or syndicators. 

A perfect example is Jim Hightower. When Hightower had his weekend show
syndicated by ABC, WRKO would never put him on. To their credit, WRKO had
local weekend programming, even if it was hard right-wingers like Chuck Adler,
Janeen Graf and Mike Wiley (both, out of work local hosts who could be added
to that list I posted a few weeks ago) and later the Two Twits. Even one of
the Boston Globe editorialists, who happened to hear Hightower's show while
vacationing on the Cape, called on WRKO to put him on the air in Boston! (How
often does something like THAT happen? Especially from the Globe who have a
special hatred for the format, unless you are Chris Lydon, of course.) Yet,
surprisingly, when Hightower was fired, and replaced by business-friendly,
liberal, Bernie Ward, WRKO put him on, canning those local hosts or shifting
them around to fill-in slots. 

Personally, I don't like NPR and don't count it in the same respects as
commercial talk radio. Maybe that is a flaw on my part. Commercial radio has
to play by the forces of the dreaded market whereas NPR do not. And whenever I
listen to NPR, with the exception of Lydon who I find interesting most of the
time, the spin is very safe and unchallenging to those dominant corporate
powers who own everything in media. WBUR doesn't take any chances, which they
should because they are in the position to, yet they are beholden to their
corporate interests who continue to fund their drives. I mean, come on...
Lydon does a show on expansion of NAFTA last year and invites on Ira Jackson
of BankBoston; a major campaign and NPR contributor, a major global player who
could give a damn about displaced America workers or enslaved Chilean workers,
with direct monetary interests concerning the policy, and he is on for a whole
hour almost unchecked. It is disgraceful. 

To WRPT's credit, they do have local hosts now (with a conservative/pro-
business spin), which they didn't when they first started, for most of the
day. Don Feder, Dr. Lori Roth and John Napolitano (sp?) are all broacast from
WRPT's studios. I don't know if they lease the time or they are hired, but
they are local, which is a positive thing, I think. 

There are so many other examples there are too many to mention. Needless to
say, it is a very sad state of affairs when one of the most liberal,
progressive, whatever, state in the United States has no opportunity to
compete. It is discrimination by opinion and it is wrong. 

Just my $2.00, Tony

In a message dated 4/17/98 7:30:09 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
dan.strassberg@worldnet.att.net writes:

<< Alexander Langer, who already owns largely brokered/satellite-talk WRPT 650
 Ashland and WJLT 1060 Natick (which he leases to Christian broadcaster Great
 Commission Broadcasting), is buying AC WSRO 1470 Marlboro from Doug Rowe for
 an unspecified amount. With Salem's pending purchase of WBPS and Fairbanks'
 leasing of WKOX to Spanish broadcasters (and to Great Commission overnight),
 the MetroWest radio picture looks rather sorry.
 
 Although Great Commission does an outstanding job--if you're into Christian
 radio--and some people have commented that WRPT is doing a good job (listen
 closely--unless you're an extreme right winger, you may reconsider; the
 satellite stuff all has a STRONG right-wing bias), I expect that one of two
 things to happen. Either Langer will move the programming from WRPT to WSRO
 and lease WRPT as he does WJLT, or he will simply lease WSRO.
 
 Whereas Great commission proves that you don't have to own the station to do
 a good job of programming it, what are the odds that Langer can find another
 lessee that will do an equally good job? And MetroWest will be even worse
 than Worcester as far as diversity of opinion. Between the evangelical
 Christians and the ulta-right satellite droppings, the area will lack a
 radio outlet for the expression of centerist, secular opinions, which, in
 Eastern Mass, are really mainstream opinions.
 
 The right wingers keep crying about liberal-leftist media control. Umm,
 don't look now, but methinks they protest way too much! Look who controls
 radio locally. And the situation in MetroWest is FAR from unique. In fact,
 it's typical of the situation throughout the country.
  >>

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