Rush Limbaugh! DRATS (Democrat Radio and Television System)!

With all this talk and wringing of hands about the access of liberal voices, conservatives in the red part of the country believe their voices are finally being heard. Traditional networks meet the needs of major metropolitan area news viewers, but they don't reflect the values of most Americans.

Let's put a few cards on the table before we begin. While the liberals were controlling the message, Rush Limbaugh saved AM radio. We would not even be having this discussion of balance in the media if there were no Excellence in Broadcasting Network (EIB). AM talk would have gone the way of "Top 40" formats that included back to back spins of The Candy Man by Sammy Davis, Jr. and Procol Harem's A Whiter Shade of Pale. Those were the days.

Limbaugh is also the absolute best in the genre in content, delivery and entertainment value. The Rush Limbaugh Show was a gamble by an investor that had an idea and like many ideas; it could have failed unless it developed a following and was able to attract advertisers that would payback the investment and then make money on their own. The concept is simple, the execution is not.

The other component in this equation is that most of the listeners to NPR (National Public Radio) and Public TV news are conservatives. The more time you spend time following the news, the more likely you are to lean to the right. If you lean to the left or are a young adult, you are more likely to get news in condensed form or from late night comics. That should scare you, not conservative talk show hosts.

This brings us to the idea that there should be a Democrat Radio and Television System (DRATS). This assumes that there are no liberal shows out there. The United Auto Workers have their own radio network. Even with talented talkers like Curtis Ellis, you probably didn't know that because most people have not heard of their shows. Alan Colmes has been chosen as the anchor program for the Fox News Channel's foray into a talk radio network and he is a liberal. If it is given time and generates advertising dollars, Alan will be a success.

It is clear that Democrats do not get it and that is evidenced in the comments of the head of their party, former President Clinton. He believes that "(Democrats) don't want to become like the right-wing talk-show hosts, hammering our adversaries into cartoon characters and denying their humanity." What does that mean, anyway?

You cannot force a trend. People will find what they want to listen to and watch. I hope that Al Gore and others try to put together a new network, but it will be money down the drain, if they don't have a business plan that works. Didn't they learn anything from the boom and bust of the technology bubble? If you do not have a business plan then you will not have success.
There is a grassroots movement that has been going on fifteen years. It began with Rush and the newest star is Sean Hannity. They deliver their brand of content and entertainment and conservatives and liberals and those in between like it and that cannot be forced. There is always room for more voices in this society. No voices are silenced, but they may be disagreed with and in the arena of ideas, that is what makes it interesting.

Martha Zoller is one of those new voices in talk radio and in the arena of ideas. She hosts a daily talk show for WDUN Newstalk 550 in Gainesville, Georgia and streaming on the internet. You see her on cable news channels and read her around the country. You can listen live from 9-11:30 am weekdays and hear her at www.marthazoller.com.