European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 31, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Sidelights political Power plugs into the talk show circuitry Thomas b. Rosenstiel los Angeles times when Hillary Clinton irritated homemakers some weeks ago with her remark about not wanting to stay Home and bake cookies she did not try to repair the damage by giving an interview to time Magazine. She went on the Home 5/iowon Abc. When husband Fiill Clinton a democratic presidential Campaign was in trouble in new York most of his aides believe he turned it around by doing drive tire radio with Shock Jock Don Imus and later that morning daytime to with Phil Donahue when Jerry Brown stunned the political Wise men by winning Connecticut s democratic primary some people thought his key move was spending hours on Michael Harrison a radio show on tic in Hartford. For anyone interested in sensing where this year s presidential Campaign is or where the candidates stand on issues among the Best places to find out May be Larry King on can or Charlie Rose on the learning Channel or Carlo to Bradley on Wilm radio in Wilmington Del. The once slightly regarded talk shows and interview programs of radio and to he new hybrid Media of american culture Are playing a powerful role in shaping who might be the next president. In the process the Rise of the new Media is exposing several problems about the reach and effectiveness of the supposedly More serious press. A significant number of americans regard the traditional press a network news shows major newspapers magazines a As part of the elite establishment from which they feel disconnected disenfranchised even resentful. The establishment press Many analysts say frames polities in language that Many americans do not identify with and around issues they do not consider important. In the new Media by contrast americans can have an immediate say a calling in to talk with candidates directly to air their opinions even criticize the Host for questions they consider inappropriate. Many traditional journalists Are Quick to dismiss these shows As More entertainment than Tough minded journalism. And it is True that particularly on radio Many talk shows still engage in bailing and alienation. But the universe of new Media in recent years has expanded and now often treats subjects at greater length and plainer English than the so called serious press. Nowhere else has Ross Perot Patrick Buchanan Bill Clinton or Brown had an hour on National television to themselves for answering questions and telling their stories. The most obvious Case is the apparent presidential candidacy of Texas billionaire Perot. It began on in no a Larry King live look Root in the talk radio programs Over the next few weeks and then flourished on the show s of David Frost and Donahue. But the phenomenon goes deeper than Perot a alternative non party Campaign. A today if you do the full swing of radio and to you Are going to reach so percent of the Public in a week a talk show Host King said Quot you could run a whole Campaign on to and move right to the Public. The Larry Kings and the Phil Donahue make citizens feel the reach of these less olym pin forms of american Media is nothing new. In 1975, shortly after he left the California governor s office Ronald Reagan had his Choice of two otters to Start doing news commentaries. One was to alternate with Eric Severeid on the is is Ning slews with Waller Cronkite. The other was with Mutual radio Reagan chose radio explaining to his Media adviser Michael Deaver that he thought the medium was a better Way to reach people because it had More credibility with Many americans than the network news. A in my opinion Ronald Reagan got elected because he was on the radio everyday for nearly five years talking to 50 million people a week a Deaver recalls. Murray Leven the author of talk radio and the american dream says that Quot if you take a look at a program like Ted Koppel of night line the people who appear arc All men of Power and the ideological and cultural framework within which these discussions take place is average citizens rarely appear on such programs. Since 1972, for instance research by University of san Diego researcher Daniel Hallin found that fewer everyday citizens have shown up in political stories on network television. That coincides with when the Media began using polling to track Public opinion. The Public in a sense became statistical percentiles responding to the press inquiries argues Jay Rosen of new York University this was roughly the same time that the new Media began emerging. A hybrid of entertainment and journalism Public affairs and primal scream talk radio became a conduit for powerless people with gripes to get attention Leven said. These formats basically were transferred to television in the mid-19n0s with such programs As Oprah Winfrey so anti literally from radio to television in the Case of Larry King. A Larry King and Donahue and talk radio and even Rush Limbaugh Are interactive Media Quot said Reagan Media adviser Deaver. Quot there is a Way to get in. You can say your piece and vote. In network to just like party politics people Are a turning Point so far in Clinton s presidential candidacy May have come when lie appeared on Donahue before the new York primary. Clinton underwent nearly 30 minutes of inquiries from Donahue about smoking marijuana and adultery. Angrily a woman Rose and levelled a Sharp criticism at Donahue a Given the pathetic state of most of the United states at this Point. I can t believe you spent half an hour of air time attacking this Many a character. In a not even a Bill Clinton supporter but i think this is at Abc s world news tonight in new York producers saw the Exchange As a moment when the Public had broken through into the process. They put the tape on the news that evening. For years Many of the radio talk show hosts depicted issues As melodramatic clashes of Good and evil reducing problems to caricature and preying on fear to increase alienation save. That still in Many ways characterizes some of the most notable talk show hosts including the nations most popular conservative critic , whose program reaches 11.6 million people a week for three hours a Day. But As the Media spectrum Lias grown in recent cars talk show Host Michael Harrison save the talk show universe has become widened to include More moderate voices with various ideologies from Michael Jackson in los Angeles to Mary Beal on Knss radio in Wichita kan., president of the association of talk show hosts. With them the kind of people who listen to talk radio also has widened and so has the Range of guests and influence of the programs. The new Media Are not going to investigate or unearth new information about a candidates background or record they generally do not involve reporting. But politicians May find it More difficult to Dodge questions from a talk show Host than those from a supposedly More adversarial journalist whom Many politicians use As foils. A you Are on with the average Guy a a said King a and if Bush goes on these shows which he will have to he is going to have to answer questions. The Public expects it. They expect Perot a candidacy is full of stories of the new Media a role. How the North Carolina state chairman of Perot a petition drive electronics Supply company executive Marty Henderson was listening to a radio talk show in Charlotte one saturday when he heard there was a Perot meeting in a local Park. He went and since he had met Perot he was elected by the volunteers there As the state chairman. Now he finds himself for the first time in his life involved in politics. The Texas billionaire first appeared on the King. Program during the congressional debate on the eve of the persian Gulf War in january 1991, when he talked about his opposition. During the program Secretary of Commerce Robert a. Mosbacher called in to argue with the billionaire a sign of the programs interactive immediacy. Afterwards King producer Tamara Haddad said the King program received More phone Calls than Ever before in its history. At the time of Bush a state of the Union address in late january Haddad said she got Perot to agree to appear to talk about the presidential Campaign sometime after the new Hampshire primary. Although nothing was arranged Quot he made very Clear that he thought it was Lime for someone to take the reins and get the country moving economically a Haddad said. A my gut feeling was he was an unannounced Perot appeared and said that he would run if volunteers put him on the ballot in All 50 states. Again the King program set a record for Calls. In the Days that followed Trade newsletter editor and talk show Host Harrison said the Community of talk show hosts around the country Rode explosive interest in Perot. What political Impact the new Media May have beyond that is unclear. Timothy j. Russert the Host of no cd a a feet the press argues that in the new Media Quot people Are basically communicating themselves their personalities their ability to think and talk and speak on their and in the end that is a Good Deal of what americans want to 8 a sunday May 31, 1992
