Rip and Read

A good column by Lawrence Henry makes sobering reading for blogger triumphalists who overestimate the erosion of Big Media. He points out something that those of us living in the provinces know quite well: that radio affiliate networks play an enormous role in packaging big national and international stories, and in determining what counts as a story. Even talk radio stations that play hours and hours of Limbaugh, Hannity, et al., have their hard news coverage dominated by the story lines put out by the news operations of ABC, CBS, Westwood One, and CNN. One might also add that NPR has disproportionate influence in the provinces, since their target audience has fewer alternatives to it; and that local newspapers are themselves largely "rip and read" operations too, with coverage of all but the most local news dominated by the New York Times, Washington Post, AP, and Cox. But the general picture is clear.

Satellite radio could change some of this, in the way that cable changed network television. So could the advent of alternatives, such as a Fox News Radio Network. But for now, there is a remarkable moment of cognitive dissonance on many AM stations around the country, every hour and half-hour, when the news breaks interrupt the talkmeisters' shows with material that is dramatically different in tone and perspective. What I especially like about Henry's column is its recognition that the relatively low-tech arena of AM radio is still so vitally important, and will remain so for the foreseeable future.