Donna's article from Taylor's Radio-Info

[Dave Tomm]

To me, the real impact on the election was not from progressive or  
conservative talkers, but from urban and Hispanic radio, particularly  
the syndicated morning shows.  Just about the entire Urban and Urban  
AC format nationally is syndicated in morning drive, and personalities  
like Tom Joyner, Steve Harvey and Big Boy were major Obama proponents  
early on and motivated their listeners to register and vote.  It was a  
big factor in states like North Carolina and Virginia, which not only  
went blue this election cycle, but also helped Democrats in downticket  
races as well.  Hispanic radio also helped to galvanize listeners in  
key states like Florida, New Mexico and Colorado on issues like the  
economy health care and particularly immigration reform.  While these  
formats aren't true "talk" formats, they discussed politics a LOT in  
the past year and their impact on the elections cannot be understated.

-Dave Tomm


On Nov 11, 2008, at 6:49 AM, TVNETDUDE@aol.com wrote:

> “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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