Donna's article from Taylor's Radio-Info

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“Leftie  talkers helped to get Obama elected.”  
Donna  Halper’s a Boston-based radio historian and assistant professor at 
Lesley  University in Cambridge – and a T-R-I reader – and she leaps into the 
debate  about whether radio had any effect on last week’s election. One reader 
thought  conservative talkers like Rush and Hannity didn’t do much to sway 
opinion. But  Halper says “I truly believe the results of the 2008 election proved 
that  progressive talkers like Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller and Rachel Maddow 
(along  with TV progressives like Keith Olbermann) made a major difference. 
They  put forth the liberal point of view in a way that was absent from 2000 
and  2004…Despite predictions of the demise of progressive talk, and despite 
some of  the well-documented problems, progressive talk is still around, and 
since 2004,  a number of individual hosts have continued to build a name for 
themselves, turn  a profit, and above all, give the progressive viewpoint a chance 
to be  heard.  While these progressive hosts may not be on as many stations 
as,  let's say, Limbaugh or Hannity, their value was that they were able to 
operate  on several levels - doing their radio show, but also being pundits on 
Larry King  Live or on the late night shows like Letterman or Leno. With that 
increased  exposure, they were able to refute conservative talking points on a 
regular  basis.  Thus, my belief is that leftie talkers helped to get Obama  
elected.” 
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