How to Counter the Right Hold on Talk Radio

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The limbo model was seen as a good, safe business move. So most talk stations see what is working in many of their areas and then they just, you know, very conservatively put that on there. And therefore, the whole system is taken over by force to represent one voice. The big attempt to counter the right hold on talk radio came when George W. Bush was running for re-election in 2004. Was a project called Air America.

If you’ve ever flipped through the radio dial — not satellite, not podcasts, but good old-fashioned AM and FM radio — you may have noticed something. Right wing radio talk is everywhere.

But the airwaves weren't always so dominated by such a narrow range of voices. Reporter and friend of the show Katie Thornton has the story of how talk radio has evolved (and perhaps devolved at times) over the past century, and what all of it means for the airwaves today.

The Divided Dial

Hear the rest of the the series from On the Media