That's mainly because Boortz is a better radio host than Hannity.
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An investigation regarding talkers
- Thread starter joshzz
- Start date
That's mainly because Boortz is a better radio host than Hannity.
Both. A good screener "interviews" the caller to see how interesting or fun they will be, and the host has to give guidance to the screener about what mix of callers they want.
Most shows have some kind of software attached to the call system that shows who is calling and what they want to talk about. The key is not only getting the right people, but communication between the host and the screener.
I thought it was interesting watching that communication on the TV show Frasier, where the producer told the host about the caller on air. We never would do that, because that assumed the host would actually want to take that particular call. We'd typically give a few choices.
That might work if the screener/producer is an equal partner in the show, or at least an experienced host. It would be an interesting experiment to try.
I guess that an on-air dialog was more dramatic that keyboard-entered and screen-delivered text messages between the host and the screener.
Of course, the internal messaging is often more on the order of "you are giving me too many bad quality cell phone callers" or "get a female or two, can't you?" or "stop loading me with old farts..." and the ever popular, "my coffee is getting cold".
But nothing beats "gotta pee going to break early".
The truth is, our leaders and the respective political parties have paid speech writers and have access to the best actors. They're politicians! The fact is they can easily fool a "screener" and get through then challenge Limbaugh and others.
The handlers of Limbaugh and others won't let this happen as they want their respective talkers to appear invincible. So, the listeners swallow hours of the same rhetoric on a daily basis. Limbaugh could never survive a diatribe from any politician connected at the congressional or senate level.
The truth is, the devoted fans/listeners like it that way. They never journey out of their comfort zone. They're the same people that post on the Fox News website with comments like, "Obama Stinks" "Obama should be impeached" "Bush is great" ... This is the mentality of the fan of the respective host.
Paid callers for RW radio means free speech is a joke.by certainotFollow .
Tweet302 Comments / 0 New.If there are banks of paid callers calling Limbaugh and other right wing talkers from right wing think tanks or government agencies Americans need to know about it.
This level of coordinated misinformation makes national discussions of important problems impossible and short circuits the feedback loops that democracy depends on.
Radio Daze by LIEL LEIBOVITZ
Here are some excerpts:
.
A short while later, he received the following email: “Thank you for auditioning for Premiere On Call,” it said. “Your audition was great! We’d like to invite you to join our official roster of ‘ready-to-work’ actors.” The job, the email indicated, paid $40 an hour, with one hour guaranteed per day.
But what exactly was the work? The question popped up during the audition and was explained, the actor said, clearly and simply: If he passed the audition, he would be invited periodically to call in to various talk shows and recite various scenarios that made for interesting radio. He would never be identified as an actor, and his scenarios would never be identified as fabricated—which they always were.
Curious, the actor did some snooping and learned that Premiere On Call was a service offered by Premiere Radio Networks, the largest syndication company in the United States and a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, the entertainment and advertising giant. Premiere syndicates some of the more sterling names in radio, including Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity. But a great radio show depends as much on great callers as it does on great hosts: Enter Premiere On Call.
Rachel Nelson, a Premiere Radio Networks spokesperson, defended the Premiere on Call service and said that responsibility for how it is employed falls ultimately to those who use it.
“Premiere provides a wide variety of audio services for radio stations across the country, one of which is connecting local stations in major markets with great voice talent to supplement their programming needs,” Nelson wrote in an email. “Voice actors know this service as Premiere On Call. Premiere, like many other content providers, facilitates casting—while character and script development, and how the talent’s contribution is integrated into programs, are handled by the varied stations.”
That may be the case on a limited basis but I doubt many local stations or even the national talkers and their staffs do much of this. The main national right wing talkers are well coordinated as a unit. The main ones regurgitate much of the same material. They’re getting paid millions to sell national GOP talking points. To be useful the call needs to be timed right and be on topic. And to be successful they have to get past the call screener. Paid callers are not going to be waiting for 2 hours and maybe not get on. How does the call screener know he needs to let the paid caller through? Maybe they have their own area code. Or password.
Do the Heritage Foundation, US Chamber of Commerce, and the Pentagon have their own paid caller banks? Do lobbyists use them to stop or push legislation? The Abramoff emails had some references to coordinating radio when trying to influence politicians. Local right wing talkers often reinforce the national shows and coordinate with state and local GOP political needs. Are they getting preferred topics lists and how are these coordinated with paid callers on a national scale?
What percentage of the calls that make it through to Limbaugh and Hannity during a day, reaching many millions of listeners, are from real callers? The real answer may be very embarrassing considering how few they usually take in a day. How will their loyal callers, who try in vain for years, feel when they find out the paid callers always get bumped to the top?
How much do Limbaugh and Hannity depend on paid callers to reinforce, worship, prompt a talking point, start a buzz, inject a rumor, attack a political enemy, distort, divert blame, or make an excuse. Or cheer on the teabaggers screaming 2+2=3 in town hall meetings. Or teach a nation of teabaggers 2+2=3.
What part did paid callers play to reinforce and rationalize the talking points for going into Iraq, make excuses for a dry drunk AWOL dictator wannabe, sell wall street deregulation, praise an unqualified supreme court nominee, swiftboat a war hero or dedicated public servant, and attack publicly financed broadcasting. Or call single payer communist or talk about death panels and ACORN voter fraud. How many were paid to repeat the phrase "Tiller the baby killer?"
If the GOP has a problem and wants to turn a molehill into a mountain to distract the media they can just get a few paid callers on 200 or 400 or 600 radio stations, with a host that not only agrees but reinforces it, never asks for facts, and makes sure his call screeners keep out the truth tellers.
Randi Rhodes and Thom Hartmann like to call them out or play with them when they hit their shows. But they may not be obvious.
On several occasions I have heard what seemed like a staged series of calls coordinated to lay out all the most important RW talking points on a particular topic, like attacking Iraq. And by the way, life on an aircraft carrier is fun! Ending with a nasty jerk with an arab accent badmouthing America. Or a slurred-mouthed hippie asking "What about peace, dude... can't we all just get along?" And now for some more calls, folks, doesn't that last guy make you mad? All lines are open!
How many politicians were made or destroyed and how much legislation was passed or obstructed because the Karl Roves could inject a groundswell buzz of worship or lies into the national media whenever they wanted? Or present ten possible excuses for why such and such a GOP politician shouldn't go to jail?
It makes a total joke of the claim that right wing talk radio dominance is based on market forces and popular demand. Right wing talkers are constantly saying “The American people want so and so” and the rest of the media often agree. Talk radio talkers on TV are often asked what their callers have been saying.
And how can our universities continue to rationalize broadcasting their sports on stations using paid callers to deny global warming/climate change?
If Americans don't demand investigations they are democratically suicidal. Whistleblowers need to be encouraged- not only the paid callers but call screeners and other radio staff.
Americans need to take this seriously. Free speech is a joke until the radio is fixed.
Note: Thorn recently posted this on the same topic:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Thanks for all the recs. Have to run, be back later.
The handlers of Limbaugh and others won't let this happen as they want their respective talkers to appear invincible. So, the listeners swallow hours of the same rhetoric on a daily basis. Limbaugh could never survive a diatribe from any politician connected at the congressional or senate level.
The truth is, the devoted fans/listeners like it that way. They never journey out of their comfort zone. They're the same people that post on the Fox News website with comments like, "Obama Stinks" "Obama should be impeached" "Bush is great" ... This is the mentality of the fan of the respective host.
Paid callers for RW radio means free speech is a joke.by certainotFollow .
Tweet302 Comments / 0 New.If there are banks of paid callers calling Limbaugh and other right wing talkers from right wing think tanks or government agencies Americans need to know about it.
This level of coordinated misinformation makes national discussions of important problems impossible and short circuits the feedback loops that democracy depends on.
Radio Daze by LIEL LEIBOVITZ
Here are some excerpts:
.
A short while later, he received the following email: “Thank you for auditioning for Premiere On Call,” it said. “Your audition was great! We’d like to invite you to join our official roster of ‘ready-to-work’ actors.” The job, the email indicated, paid $40 an hour, with one hour guaranteed per day.
But what exactly was the work? The question popped up during the audition and was explained, the actor said, clearly and simply: If he passed the audition, he would be invited periodically to call in to various talk shows and recite various scenarios that made for interesting radio. He would never be identified as an actor, and his scenarios would never be identified as fabricated—which they always were.
Curious, the actor did some snooping and learned that Premiere On Call was a service offered by Premiere Radio Networks, the largest syndication company in the United States and a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, the entertainment and advertising giant. Premiere syndicates some of the more sterling names in radio, including Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity. But a great radio show depends as much on great callers as it does on great hosts: Enter Premiere On Call.
Rachel Nelson, a Premiere Radio Networks spokesperson, defended the Premiere on Call service and said that responsibility for how it is employed falls ultimately to those who use it.
“Premiere provides a wide variety of audio services for radio stations across the country, one of which is connecting local stations in major markets with great voice talent to supplement their programming needs,” Nelson wrote in an email. “Voice actors know this service as Premiere On Call. Premiere, like many other content providers, facilitates casting—while character and script development, and how the talent’s contribution is integrated into programs, are handled by the varied stations.”
That may be the case on a limited basis but I doubt many local stations or even the national talkers and their staffs do much of this. The main national right wing talkers are well coordinated as a unit. The main ones regurgitate much of the same material. They’re getting paid millions to sell national GOP talking points. To be useful the call needs to be timed right and be on topic. And to be successful they have to get past the call screener. Paid callers are not going to be waiting for 2 hours and maybe not get on. How does the call screener know he needs to let the paid caller through? Maybe they have their own area code. Or password.
Do the Heritage Foundation, US Chamber of Commerce, and the Pentagon have their own paid caller banks? Do lobbyists use them to stop or push legislation? The Abramoff emails had some references to coordinating radio when trying to influence politicians. Local right wing talkers often reinforce the national shows and coordinate with state and local GOP political needs. Are they getting preferred topics lists and how are these coordinated with paid callers on a national scale?
What percentage of the calls that make it through to Limbaugh and Hannity during a day, reaching many millions of listeners, are from real callers? The real answer may be very embarrassing considering how few they usually take in a day. How will their loyal callers, who try in vain for years, feel when they find out the paid callers always get bumped to the top?
How much do Limbaugh and Hannity depend on paid callers to reinforce, worship, prompt a talking point, start a buzz, inject a rumor, attack a political enemy, distort, divert blame, or make an excuse. Or cheer on the teabaggers screaming 2+2=3 in town hall meetings. Or teach a nation of teabaggers 2+2=3.
What part did paid callers play to reinforce and rationalize the talking points for going into Iraq, make excuses for a dry drunk AWOL dictator wannabe, sell wall street deregulation, praise an unqualified supreme court nominee, swiftboat a war hero or dedicated public servant, and attack publicly financed broadcasting. Or call single payer communist or talk about death panels and ACORN voter fraud. How many were paid to repeat the phrase "Tiller the baby killer?"
If the GOP has a problem and wants to turn a molehill into a mountain to distract the media they can just get a few paid callers on 200 or 400 or 600 radio stations, with a host that not only agrees but reinforces it, never asks for facts, and makes sure his call screeners keep out the truth tellers.
Randi Rhodes and Thom Hartmann like to call them out or play with them when they hit their shows. But they may not be obvious.
On several occasions I have heard what seemed like a staged series of calls coordinated to lay out all the most important RW talking points on a particular topic, like attacking Iraq. And by the way, life on an aircraft carrier is fun! Ending with a nasty jerk with an arab accent badmouthing America. Or a slurred-mouthed hippie asking "What about peace, dude... can't we all just get along?" And now for some more calls, folks, doesn't that last guy make you mad? All lines are open!
How many politicians were made or destroyed and how much legislation was passed or obstructed because the Karl Roves could inject a groundswell buzz of worship or lies into the national media whenever they wanted? Or present ten possible excuses for why such and such a GOP politician shouldn't go to jail?
It makes a total joke of the claim that right wing talk radio dominance is based on market forces and popular demand. Right wing talkers are constantly saying “The American people want so and so” and the rest of the media often agree. Talk radio talkers on TV are often asked what their callers have been saying.
And how can our universities continue to rationalize broadcasting their sports on stations using paid callers to deny global warming/climate change?
If Americans don't demand investigations they are democratically suicidal. Whistleblowers need to be encouraged- not only the paid callers but call screeners and other radio staff.
Americans need to take this seriously. Free speech is a joke until the radio is fixed.
Note: Thorn recently posted this on the same topic:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Thanks for all the recs. Have to run, be back later.
Right wing talk radio couldn't keep the Democrats from being elected to Congress in 2006, and couldn't keep the President from being elected two times over.
You're making a mountain out of a molehill. On most of these shows you hear 95% host and maybe -- if that -- 5% caller. So the callers are immaterial to the shows.
You should be more concerned about the lies spread on that more popular media source -- the Internet -- than about talk radio.
I've seen downright lies spread on "news" blog sites and half truths, and people believe them, because unlike RW talk shows, which are commentary -- those sites claim to be as legit a news source as the New York Times or LA Times.
Perhaps you should be pressing for Congress to investigate them -- because in 2015, internet "news" sites have a lot more influence on the American public.
Of course that would never happen, for good reason. It's called the First Amendment.
You're making a mountain out of a molehill. On most of these shows you hear 95% host and maybe -- if that -- 5% caller. So the callers are immaterial to the shows.
You should be more concerned about the lies spread on that more popular media source -- the Internet -- than about talk radio.
I've seen downright lies spread on "news" blog sites and half truths, and people believe them, because unlike RW talk shows, which are commentary -- those sites claim to be as legit a news source as the New York Times or LA Times.
Perhaps you should be pressing for Congress to investigate them -- because in 2015, internet "news" sites have a lot more influence on the American public.
Of course that would never happen, for good reason. It's called the First Amendment.
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Avid Listener
Guest
Any idiot should recognize that talkers like Limbaugh do nothing other than "preach to the choir". The content of right wing talk station is no different from the content of any music format station. It's all carefully tested and researched to pander to a specific audience segment by giving them exactly what the research and testing says that they want to hear. I have very little faith in the accuracy of such research, but the suits running radio think it's gospel, so they treat it as such. Now, if the callers are real or fake, so what? What difference does it make? When the content of a radio program is merely entertainment to appeal to people who already agree with the host and simply want to hear their own opinions reinforced so that they'll feel better, who the hell cares if some of the voices are paid?
Only a total idiot could possibly want to take public resources and throw them away on investigating such a trivial non-issue as this. Then again, only a total idiot could make a statement like, "And how can our universities continue to rationalize broadcasting their sports on stations using paid callers to deny global warming/climate change?"
Ravens, Actually I agree with what he says. 
I remember the good ole days when talk radio meant lots of discussions about many topics. In the old days, the hosts didn't have unholy alliances with the political parties. They would be receptive to difference of opinions and allow the caller to have the floor. Nowadays Limbaugh's handlers won't allow any difference of opinion. If you are on the radio talking with him, you are only there to trumpet his position and nothing more. It reminds me of Communist China and North Korea and what they expect of their citizens. You agree or you are sent to prison in these countries. With Limbaugh, you agree or you will never have an opportunity to speak on his program.
What about freedom?
I remember the good ole days when talk radio meant lots of discussions about many topics. In the old days, the hosts didn't have unholy alliances with the political parties. They would be receptive to difference of opinions and allow the caller to have the floor. Nowadays Limbaugh's handlers won't allow any difference of opinion. If you are on the radio talking with him, you are only there to trumpet his position and nothing more. It reminds me of Communist China and North Korea and what they expect of their citizens. You agree or you are sent to prison in these countries. With Limbaugh, you agree or you will never have an opportunity to speak on his program.
What about freedom?
Ravens, Actually I agree with what he says.
I remember the good ole days when talk radio meant lots of discussions about many topics. In the old days, the hosts didn't have unholy alliances with the political parties. They would be receptive to difference of opinions and allow the caller to have the floor. Nowadays Limbaugh's handlers won't allow any difference of opinion. If you are on the radio talking with him, you are only there to trumpet his position and nothing more. It reminds me of Communist China and North Korea and what they expect of their citizens. You agree or you are sent to prison in these countries. With Limbaugh, you agree or you will never have an opportunity to speak on his program.
What about freedom?
Those are legitimate complaints. Continually posting false stories about paid callers isn't legitimate.
Let's start with the fact that Limbaugh's show is his to do with as he likes. If he wants supportive calls, he can tell his screeners to only deliver that kind of call. Or, perhaps the screeners line up a diverse group of callers, all patiently waiting on hold but Rush picks the ones he wants. His choice.
Screeners are just that. They are not "handlers" and hold no sway over the show. Calling them "handlers" makes you, joshzz, just as guilty of bias as the folks you are accusing.
But what riles me is comparing the Limbaugh show with North Korea or China. Nobody is jailed, deprived of their job or harmed if Rush decides to put their call in "hold hell" and never take it on the air (that's an internal name many of us used for simply putting a caller on eternal hold).
I once owned a station in another country where we had a military junta in charge of the government. I was allied with a newspaper in calling for free elections as promised. One day, a bunch of guys with guns came to tell me I had to leave the country. My counterpart at the newspaper disappeared the same day and was never seen again. So don't go comparing totalitarian regimes under which you have obviously never lived with some radio show that you don't even have to listen to.
Ravens, Actually I agree with what he says.
I remember the good ole days when talk radio meant lots of discussions about many topics. In the old days, the hosts didn't have unholy alliances with the political parties. They would be receptive to difference of opinions and allow the caller to have the floor. Nowadays Limbaugh's handlers won't allow any difference of opinion. If you are on the radio talking with him, you are only there to trumpet his position and nothing more. It reminds me of Communist China and North Korea and what they expect of their citizens. You agree or you are sent to prison in these countries. With Limbaugh, you agree or you will never have an opportunity to speak on his program.
What about freedom?
There's still plenty of freedom, Josh. You ever see the opinions expressed on the internet, where vastly superior numbers of people get their information? There's lots of different opinions -- even on my FB news feed. All sorts of opinions expressed.
As for talk radio, progressive talk gave it a shot and it failed to catch on. It's not like they didn't try. I listened to it for maybe a year, then the station went sports.
Apparently the listener demos weren't drawing in the revenue.
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And I remember the "good old days" when music radio was fun to listen to. The "good old days" are gone, and they're never coming back.
I think it's safe to say you've lived the most interesting life of anyone who ever worked in radio.
In the encyclopedia under the heading of "getting old sucks" I believe we would find your picture.
The Fonz jumped the shark. So have you. The 50's and 60's are not coming back. Get over it.
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Avid Listener
Guest
Isn't it interesting that you can mock and belittle radio's listeners, and everyone praises you as some sort of radio genius, but if I say something against you suits, then I'm being rude.
Now, I said that music radio used to be fun to listen to, but those "'good old days' are gone, and they're never coming back", referring to radio. But watching TV was fun in the 1950s and 1960s, and it's even more fun now. Going to the movies was fun in the 1950s and 1960's, and it's even more fun now. The roller coasters at amusement parks were fun in the 1950s and 1960s, but the new ones around today are even more fun. Seeing live music concerts was fun in the 1950s and 1960s, but they're even better and more fun today. The cars we drove in the 1950s and 1960's were fun, but many of the new ones today are even more fun! Almost everything that was fun in the 1950s and 1960s is even more fun today, with the exception of listening to music format radio, because suits like you have ruined it.
You want a format today that didn't exist in the 50s and 60s. And for the most part, it doesn't exist now.
No, music format radio was more fun for you in the 50's and 60's.
Using a point in time of 1959, I remember that my Top 10 market had 3 Top 40's, 3 MOR stations and one and a half r&b stations (one was a daytimer). That's it.
The MOR's were not fun for me, because they played Sinatra and Doris Day and Gogi Grant and Perry Como... and the announcers sounded old to a 12 year old.
The Top 40's played a lot of music I liked, but lots I did not like. Nel Blu Ni Pinto Di Blu, Happy Organ, Primrose Lane, Mac The Knife, Petit Fleur, Unforgettable, Misty, Peter Gunn... all these and more caused me to switch to a different station to see if they were playing a song I did like that did not sound like it had escaped from one of the MOR stations.
So "radio" was not fun. The music was. But it took the kind of work nobody has to do today to get the songs I liked without the 60% of songs I hated.
So no, radio was not fun back then. I knew that if I ever had a radio station... and that would have to wait for 5 more years... I would better target the music instead of trying to make half the people happy half of the time.
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