[BC] Talk Radio losing influence?

[Rich Wood]

------ At 07:21 PM 1/31/2008, Donna Halper wrote: -------

>Perception is reality,and academics who studied talk radio in the 
>1990s, perceived that Rush did in fact have influence on how 
>Republican listeners framed the issues, as well as on how listeners 
>voted.  Here are a few examples of where I got my information (I 
>have more if you want them):

No offense intended but broadcasters rarely pay much attention to 
academics. A former WABC PD and I used to go to the Museum of 
Broadcasting when they had seminars on various broadcast topics. The 
panel always included the obligatory Professor. In every case, he was 
clearly oblivious to the realities of the industry and brought all 
sorts of philosophical flotsam about what the industry ought to be. 
The audible sighs were probably insulting to him as the audience 
found his outside-the-business information/opinion bore no 
resemblance to what we experienced every day.

I've worked with many broadcast savvy researchers and I put much more 
stock in their results than I do in an academic study. Take an 
academic study to an advertising agency and watch their eyes glaze over.

><http://www.jstor.org.silk.library.umass.edu:2048/view/0033362x/sp030002/03x0020t/0?currentResult=0033362x%2bsp030002%2b03x0020t%2b0%2cFFF77F&searchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fsearch%2FBasicResults%3Fhp%3D25%26si%3D1%26gw%3Djtx%26jtxsi%3D1%26jcpsi%3D1%26artsi%3D1%26Query%3DRush%2BLimbaugh%26wc%3Don>Political 
>Talk Radio and Public Opinion

I'm not a student at UMass, though I know people who could get me 
access. Rob Balon at Benchmark recently did a study that's far more 
relevant than anything I've read in academic journals. I believe the 
results he got were the same results he would have gotten  years 
before - that talk radio has no influence on how people vote. I 
strongly believe that.

Rich