Howie Carr elected to Radio Hall of Fame

[David Tomm]

Most of these talkers from the "glory days" of WRKO plied their craft  
before the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine.  The hosts had a  
variety of opinions on the issues of the day--some more progressive,  
others more conservative.  They really reflected the views of most  
mainstream listeners, and all viewpoints were at least tolerated most  
of the time.

Since the Fairness Doctrine was abolished and the subsequent rise of  
Rush Limbaugh, talk radio has morphed into a bastion of hard right,  
neo-conservative "thought" with no room for differing opinions or  
respectful debate.  If a moderate or liberal caller makes it to the  
air and makes a fair or interesting point, they are shouted down,  
ridiculed or both.  All the hosts in talk radio today are pretty much  
Rush clones, which is why there are few "stars" in the genre besides  
Rush himself.  Oh, and before you say Sean Hannity, can someone tell  
me which station in Boston airs his program? If you like RNC talking  
points parroted to you and cheap namecalling of political opponents,  
then today's talk radio is for you.  For the rest of us, not so much.

As a result, talk radio today appeals primarily to older white males  
which is (surprise!) the strongest demographic of the Republican  
Party.  In an industry which is constantly looking for younger and  
increasingly more diverse demographics, talk radio has become a  
dinosaur.  Because of talk radio's anemic billing, most stations  
can't afford to have more than one local host, if any at all.   
Syndicated offerings are limited--they all sound the same.  Same  
viewpoints and prejudices from host to host.  Predictable.  Yawn.

Despite having Howie, Rush and the Red Sox, WRKO's billings lag far  
behind their 55+ padded ratings.  They have one of the worst power  
ratios in the market.  If 680 wasn't sister stations with wildly  
successful WEEI, and low overhead WMKK, which outbills WRKO despite  
having no airstaff and a minimal marketing budget, they'd be all- 
brokered or all-Spanish by now.

At this point in the game I don't think bringing back the Fairness  
Doctrine would help the demographically challenged talk radio genre.
The industry needs to make the move back toward the center on it's  
own.  Most importantly, it has to return to local hosts and issues.   
All points of view need to be heard, including moderates, liberals  
and even (gasp!) minorities.  If that happens, it can return to the  
"glory days" of the 80's.  The next generation of talk radio will not  
appeal to current listeners of the right wing noise machine, but  
that's precisely the point.  It needs to get younger, more tolerant  
and most importantly, more local.

Dave Tomm
"Mike Thomas"


On Jul 20, 2008, at 7:02 PM, Bill O'Neill wrote:

> Alan Tolz wrote:
>> While that would be an all-star lineup, I don't think they were  
>> ever all on RKO at the same time.  I think David left before Gene  
>> Burns came in.  Jerry and David were back to back in late 1981  
>> through 1982-83,
>
> <snip>
>
> That may be the case in terms of timeline, but what remains is the  
> fact that what we no longer have is "Boston talk radio" that we can  
> be proud of anymore.  Not to disparage all of the talent who are  
> there and doing their best, however, there were talkers who truly  
> broke ground both for radio and for Boston in that process.  Am I  
> wrong?
>