As the drug store clerk handed over the prescription along with the bill, the well into his retirement aged man gasped and exclaimed:“This is because of Obama’s health care plan. He is ruining the country. The man is a communist and a socialist.”A roar went up with at least three or four others echoing their agreement.A loan voice from the back of the store cried, “that’s’ silly.”I could not help myself.I asked the man politely if he was on Medicare, andweather or not he realized that, for good or ill, it was the far right that would prefer if Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or anything else emanating from the New Deal, or programs since, never existed. He replied that that notion was not true and that he knew better because he listens to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.“They know” he said, “and they set the record straight”The man went on, “I am reading a book now, The Communist in the White House,and it confirms everything they say.You should listen to talk radio.”I did not tell him I was a talk show host, or that I met all three men under discussion.Nor did I tell him that my industry praises these men, not for their integrity, but for the ability to con a segment of the public to listen to them and charge for the advertising revenue they take in.The insider truth is that all of us in the “business” accept that these men are entertainers.I am not sure we ever stop to think how much we in radio have poisoned the debate in this country and taken terrible advantage of ignorance, prejudice and fear.
In the movies, novels, even now professional wresting, we know that it’s just entertainment.Radio, on the other hand, prefers to fall back on that truth only when it suits itself and only when necessary to avoid legal or reputational risk. We tacitly let the toxic ranting ooze out, as the money rolls in, hoping no one will ask if it’s the truth. Like everything else in our society, if it makes money its okay or, at least, a necessary evil.
I was not angry at the retiree in the drug store. He could have been my uncle or brother. He clearly was a good and decent man who worked hard all his life, and never asked for a favor or a handout. But I was angry at the industry I work in…this industry I love.All too often we have turned our listeners…the people whose time and attention pay our salaries and put food on out tables….into marks, fools and knaves.
Bob Marronehosts "Good Morning Westchester," your local news and information service heard only on WVOX-1460 AM on the dial and worldwide on www.WVOX.com.. Bob hosts Westchester's only local live morning show focusing on the people in the Sound Shore, Yonkers, White Plains, Scarsdale, Bronxville, Eastchester and The Pelhams. Hear your Westchester neighbors on the show. And get the local news from Westchester's last remaining radio news department.
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As the drug store clerk handed over the prescription along with the bill, the well into his retirement aged man gasped and exclaimed:“This is because of Obama’s health care plan. He is ruining the country. The man is a communist and a socialist.”A roar went up with at least three or four others echoing their agreement.A loan voice from the back of the store cried, “that’s’ silly.”I could not help myself.I asked the man politely if he was on Medicare, andweather or not he realized that, for good or ill, it was the far right that would prefer if Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or anything else emanating from the New Deal, or programs since, never existed. He replied that that notion was not true and that he knew better because he listens to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.“They know” he said, “and they set the record straight”The man went on, “I am reading a book now, The Communist in the White House,and it confirms everything they say.You should listen to talk radio.”I did not tell him I was a talk show host, or that I met all three men under discussion.Nor did I tell him that my industry praises these men, not for their integrity, but for the ability to con a segment of the public to listen to them and charge for the advertising revenue they take in.The insider truth is that all of us in the “business” accept that these men are entertainers.I am not sure we ever stop to think how much we in radio have poisoned the debate in this country and taken terrible advantage of ignorance, prejudice and fear.
