I was watching one of the news shows this Sunday morning. Discussion centered around shock jocks who’ve run into trouble with tasteless jokes and as a result, whether or not radio executives are running scared in the wake of Don Imus.

Michael Harrison, editor and publisher of TALKERS Magazine got to the crux of the matter on CNN’s Reliable Sources:

“…what’s really happening is special interest groups are trying to intimidate advertisers to take their money out of talk radio in general, whether it’s satellite, Internet, or terrestrial, and that’s the underlying cause of all of this. They are trying to create a moral equivalency between rape porn and political satire. And that’s a dangerous, slippery slope. And that’s the real story.”

KURTZ: Michael Harrison, you used the phrase “intimidation,” that people are trying to intimidate advertisers. Now, Imus, by the way, through his lawyers, is trying to get back on the air either at CBS or elsewhere. But what you would call intimidation others might say is just people expressing their distaste or their revulsion…

HARRISON: Right, they are. But they are taking something that’s in a narrow cast situation and… amplifying it over and over and over on the Internet, bringing it to a wider audience who are outraged by something that they didn’t watch, nor was geared to them originally, which is going to take away diversity.

Everything is now going to — we’re going to go back to the “I love Lucy” days, where they have to have separate beds in the bedroom because the whole country is watching it, when, in fact, these are specialized channels, specialized stations. We’re in a modern 2007, 21st century era, and this Internet amplification is turning everything into mass appeal by special interests that are purposefully doing that. And we have to keep our eye on that.”

I looked up Michael Harrison and came across an interview he did in 2003 in which he discussed then-recent trends in the talk radio industry, and prospects for a new liberal radio network. It’s an interesting look at what he predicted — nearly four years ago — for talk radio:

• Can Dems run a successful talk radio network?
• Can liberal talk radio become popular?
• Why is “right wing” radio is so popular (the interview was aired on NPR’s “The NewsHour Media Unit” which is funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.)
• What is talk radio’s impact on voters?
• What has happened to the notion behind, and the specific policy known as the Fairness Doctrine, in terms of having balanced opinion?

Interesting to note that just a scant four years ago, there was little discussion about internet radio — virtually unknown in 2003.

“I envision the growth of satellite radio, and I even envision, to a certain degree, the Internet playing a role in terms of communications, but in terms of radio, I think talk radio will continue to grow. As I say all of the time, there’s more to talk radio than just politics, and that whole scene will continue to widen. You’ll have shows for women, and shows for young people, and shows about specific niches, medicine, health, gardening, cooking. All of that will continue to grow.”

The link to Harrison’s 2003 interview here.

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Also posted at
The Radio Patriot
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