James Dobson, Rush Limbaugh, Ed Schultz, etc

[Donna Halper]

I am cross-posting this to several broadcast lists, so I can get a 
wide range of replies.

As many of you know, I am finishing up my PhD, and currently at work 
on my thesis... which is also related to the book I'm working on for 
Greenwood Press-- about the history of talk shows.  I was wondering 
if any of you carry any talk, be it rightie, leftie, or religious at 
your stations.  (If you listen to talk regularly, that's fine 
too.  Your opinion would be helpful.)

Please note, before we get into ideology wars-- my question is NOT 
about which talkers you agree with or which talkers you think are 
swine.  It's also not about who's correct on the issues and who's 
totally wrong.   All I am trying to find out which talkers are still 
influential, which ones still get audience response.  Because it's 
for the introduction to the book, I want to be certain that it's 
neutral and factual.  In fact, the book itself is a reference work, 
and will discuss talk shows from both sides of the ideological 
divide, as well as giving some interesting biographical facts about 
some of the most famous hosts over the years.

Question 1:  have you found at your station that any one talker who 
gets the lion's share of response from the public?  (This includes 
any of your market's local talkers, if you have any who stand out -- 
I'd love to know more about how local talk is doing... and yes, that 
includes sports talk or any other kind of talk...)

Question 2:  are religious talkers like James Dobson still as 
influential today as they were, say 10-15 years ago?  I ask because 
studies show the audience for talk radio in general is declining 
somewhat, and I was curious to see if that's just true for the 
mainstream (non-religious) talkers of the world, or if it's also true 
for the religious hosts.

And finally, Question 3:  Is there a talker whom YOU find credible or 
interesting or listenable, whether you agree with him/her or not?

Thanks for your input, and feel free to respond off-list if that's 
more comfortable for you.  I want to thank all of you for helping me 
out in the past, and I do hope some of my posts have been helpful to 
you in return!  I wish everyone on the list a happy, healthy and 
prosperous 2008!!!