They’re making you believe that you're well-informed on an issue when really you’re just getting somebody’s version of it, somebody who has a seedy agenda: to convince you that they’re right. Well yes, that’s every political piece’s agenda, but articles that are well-researched and well thought out are much more preferable to some overly opinionated, overly belligerent, underqualified radio host personality who gets paid for attracting listeners. Their main goal by far is not to inform - it’s to attract listeners, and that is exactly why they can never be reputable as a source of information. And yet people continue to treat it as such.
And as for all the “doctors” infesting the stations, telling people what to do with their lives (Dr. Laura, anyone? I’d like to take this opportunity to bash on that woman for a bit because I just can’t resist. She has that one insufferable catchphrase that she’s rather fond of espousing: “I am my kid’s mom”…I know what you’re trying to say Dr. Laura, but please stop saying that; it’s not only stating the obvious, but also makes you sound like you have some sort of superiority complex like “Oh, I don’t know about you, you’re probably a crappy parent, but I’m my kid’s mom whereas despite your genetic position as a mom, you’re actually metaphorically your kid’s aunt or maybe more like your kid’s third cousin twice removed.”) Moving on from the Dr. Laura rant, and back to my point: I have a special disdain for those “doctor” types. When they dole out such enlightening advice to callers such as “I recommend you see a couple’s therapist, alright next caller,” I have to remind myself that there is still some beauty in this world. Although, when you think about it, such pointless recommendations are probably preferable to if this radio host had given actual advice. She might have done some serious damage to an already (and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here) seriously damaged relationship because let’s be real: if you’re calling a radio show for advice on your relationship, your relationship probably isn’t going to make it. It’s probably falling apart, crumbling right before your eyes and you’re inhaling all the particles from the rubble, which is why you can’t think clearly and why you reach for the phone to call a talk radio host instead of your friend or mother.
When it isn’t a self-righteous doctor giving no (or worse, bad) advice, it’s an “expert,” (in what, exactly? Politics? Having an opinion? It isn’t clear) who to me just comes off as some white guy who thinks a bit too much of himself. Nearly every single one of the talk radio hosts I’ve inadvertently overheard is a condescending white man who makes a habit of obnoxiously interrupting his callers and has an aggravating, almost hysteric over-eagerness to spew out his opinions (which he seems to view as near godliness in their utterly indisputable rightness despite the myriad of fallacies they involve). Seriously, there's practically no diversity with these shows. I believe that in order to qualify for this job you must 1. Be an expert (at politics? Having an opinion? Once again, who knows). 2. Be white. 3. Be male. 4. Be middle-aged at the very least because young people are too stupid to have a valid opinion. 5. Have a condescending attitude with (and this is very important because discrimination is bad) all of your callers. But maybe I'm wrong about this; I suppose I do have a rather limited sample of talk radio hosts since the only ones I’ve heard are those that my relatives, for some reason that remains unsolved, enjoy listening to.
Trying to gain valuable information through a talk radio show is comparable to receiving your moral lessons via reality television. I mean, think about it. Rush Limbaugh has a talk radio show and when someone like that is allowed to have one, is actually readily given such a large platform to spread his ideas, you have to start questioning the integrity of the medium along with the quality of the supposed experts. Okay, I’ll concede that if we applied this logic to everything, TV, movies, books, etc. would also be dubious media. However, I can think of many movies, books, TV shows, etc. that are good, great, ingenious, whereas I can’t think of a single good talk radio show. Maybe one exists and I simply haven’t been exposed to it, or maybe I’d have more luck with podcasts.
