American Morning
Talk Radio: How powerful is it?
In part one of our series on talk radio we noted that conservative political talk show hosts on commercial radio have bigger audiences than their liberal counterparts – at least on commercial AM radio.
Rush Limbaugh, the king of conservative radio talkers, gets more than 15 million listeners each week. Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, and Michael Savage are not far behind.
But do these numbers translate into real political power?
Some liberals, and even the president, are – at the very least – paying attention: "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," the president told Republican lawmakers earlier this year.
If you ask some conservative talkers across the country if conservative talk radio is powerful, they’ll tell you what Bob Durbin told us in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He’s been a conservative talk show host for decades.
“I don’t know how powerful we are. We are powerful to a degree, but so are all the other media. The Washington Post. The New York Times. Are they powerful? You’re damn right they are! So, why can’t we be powerful?”
If you measure political power by energizing people already in your corner, then conservative talkers do win. Many of their listeners showed up at town halls and tea parties over this summer.
“There is a kind of opposition quality, shadow government quality to listening to conservative radio these days,” says Camille Paglia, a social critic and Obama supporter. “And I don’t see any problem with that in a democracy,” she adds.
No one wields that kind of “opposition quality” more effectively than Rush Limbaugh. With his vast radio audience, he’s able to bring some Republican politicians to their knees.
First female commander of Army Drill Sgt. School
CNN
431 hours. 9 weeks. 10 hour days. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for soldiers at the U.S. Army’s Drill Sergeant School in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. For the first time since its inception in 1964, its top dog does not look or act like a typical drill sergeant.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/20/king.teresa.art.jpg caption="Command Sergeant Major Teresa King is the first woman commandant at the U.S. Army's Drill Sergeant School in Fort Jackson, South Carolina."]
Her name is Command Sergeant Major Teresa King and she’s the first woman commandant of this school. Incredibly fit, 48-years-old and a 29-year Army vet, King oversees 78 drill instructors and is responsible for training every Army drill sergeant. Nearly 2,000 sergeants graduate from the drill sergeant school each year.
King says the program's rigorous nature isn’t to be take lightly. “It is very horrendous day after day to come out here and demonstrate the same level of competence and willingness. To take on this mission – it's very tough.”
Most of the school’s students are hand-picked sergeants, who average 10 to 15 years in the Army before entering this grueling course. According to King, only a small percentage of students don’t have what it takes to finish. And King should know – she went through it early on in her career.
Teresa King grew up in rural North Carolina. “I thought about college for about an hour,” she says. As a teenager, she spent time at nearby Ft. Bragg. On one particular day, it was there that she found direction. “I saw a woman in a red beret. We looked at each other … and didn’t speak. But at that moment, I knew I would be a soldier.” That’s all it took. Her future was solidified. King enlisted on August 19, 1980 and left for basic training the next day.
She worked her way up the Army ranks. Her first “first” came in 1997 – becoming the first female First Sergeant for the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, NC. Since then, her career has taken her across the globe: to Europe, Korea, the Pentagon and most recently NATO headquarters. However, King has never been in combat, and, in fact, has never been deployed to a war zone.
Only a few months ago King thought about retiring. That is until the Army came knocking once again. “I was very, very shocked. I considered a lot of jobs, but being the commandant of the drill sergeant school, I had never considered it.”
King had a lingering determination to help usher the Army into its next phase. “I believe I can cause people to do some things that they thought they could never do.”
U.S. attorneys told to go after pot traffickers, not patients
CNN Justice Producer
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Justice Department has provided federal prosecutors "clarification and guidance" urging them to go after drug traffickers, but not patients and caregivers, in the 14 states that have medical marijuana laws.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/10/19/medical.marijuana/art.med.marijuana.afp.gi.jpg caption="Signs beckon patients into a medical marijuana clinic in Los Angeles, California."]
A memo sent to U.S. attorneys said that in carrying out Justice pronouncements made earlier this year indicating a policy shift to end prosecutions against users, authorities should continue to pursue drug traffickers.
"It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "But we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal," Holder added.
The memo from Deputy Attorney General David Ogden was sent to U.S. attorneys in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
The issue is particularly significant in California, where there has been uncertainty about the government's approach to raiding marijuana dispensaries, which are increasing and thriving.
We Listen – Your comments 10/19/2009
Editor's Note: Carol Costello’s series on talk radio sparked Monday’s American Morning audience to angrily dispute aspects of today’s segment. Some believed the only people who listen to talk radio are other media. Others suggested that talk radio was so popular because broadcast media slanted left before Fox News became the alternative, and that liberal radio was failing due to lack of demand. Those opposed to conservative talk radio believed “What these people have to say is trash… because they cannot think further than their nose.” Another contingent rebuked the “liberal” label for PBS, calling it a moniker from “talk radio,” and not a true reflection of the network.
- Joshua: You just reported that Rush Limbaugh is the 'king' of talk radio with 15 million listeners. My guess is that 14,999,995 of those listeners are people like you in the media and the other five are his wife and children. Why would anyone spend their time listening to talk shows like his when they can get the Cliff Notes version of what they say from CNN?
- Anita: The vast majority of cable and TV news reporters are liberals. The vast majority of news is presented w/ a liberal slant, editorializing is liberal... liberal viewpoints are thrust down the collective American throat. I don't think some of these reporters realize their reporting is so opinionated-but viewers of other persuasions do. Why did talk radio become so popular w/ conservatives, or moderates, for that matter, who are willing to consider both sides? Because when it began, and hooked listeners, FOX wasn't big news & talk radio was the only alternative. ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, most print media, etc. weren't reporting news objectively. If talk radio is too conservative, take it as a backlash to the lack of objectivity in the media preceding it. If liberals don't like it, they should compete. Let the viewers decide. Conservatives are bullies? That's a little insincere. The only bully on the playground for the past few decades has been the liberal media.
- BT: Re: American Morning Show and comments by Carol Costello re "Talk Radio" wherein she stated that the reason people listen to talk radio is b/c it's entertaining. I can't speak for everyone but I wholeheartedly believe that those people would find her statement insulting. I believe most people (like myself) listen b/c it's the only place other than Fox News that we can get the truth. I don't mean to imply CNN lies – but b/c you don't report the entire picture (both sides) it's the same thing. I used to watch CNN most of the time until the year of the presidential election and lost faith in CNN b/ it was so terribly slanted towards Obama thus you did not report all on both sides. CNN almost never presents both sides and by your omissions, I quit watching. I have learned more about our gov't and politicians and the full picture of what's going on – from Fox news and talk radio than I ever did on CNN and your comments that people listen to talk radio b/c it is entertaining was very offensive and insults my intelligence. Just like the "tea parties" – and your comments that they are just a bunch of rebel rousers, etc. No they are people like myself, who happen not to agree with the current political agenda. We want health care reform but w/o government interference. Thank you for the opportunity to send this.
- Eliot: On the show today you stated that NPR is liberal. What […] is wrong with you? Have you heard it, or were you repeating the talk radio line unchallenged? Randi Rhodes is liberal, fine. Only a fool would think NPR is. Please make an on-air correction. Some people believe this stuff.
- Rick: Thank God I do not have to listen to these narrow minded radio talk show hosts. I do listen to PBS and there I get intellectual and intelligent talk. What these people have to say is trash anyhow because they cannot think further than their nose.
- Joy: With regard to liberal radio- only 9% listen but if people enjoyed it there would be greater demand – people listen to what they like – personally I can't stand the negative talk show-liberal or conservative!
How do you feel about “conservative” radio versus “liberal” radio?
Balloon family feels 'under siege,' lawyer says
FORT COLLINS, Colorado (CNN) - The Colorado couple accused of carrying out a bizarre hoax involving their son and a huge balloon is "not running from the law" and deserves the presumption of innocence, their attorney said Monday.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/US/10/19/balloon.boy.investigation/art.heene.sheriff.kdvr.jpg caption="Richard Heene has told reporters that a runaway balloon incident involving his son was "absolutely no hoax.""]
"The sheriff having a press conference saying that they're guilty does not make them so," David Lane told CNN's "American Morning."
Authorities say the event - in which the tearful couple claimed their 6-year-old may have been trapped in the flying-saucer-like contraption floating through the air - was staged. Richard and Mayumi Heene had met in a Hollywood acting school and pursued fame for their family in the world of reality TV, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said.
Lane, asked Monday by CNN about his client's state of mind, said it was "what you would expect someone's state of mind to be after law enforcement searched your house, seized your property, held a press conference announcing you're about to be charged with felony criminal charges. Your state of mind would be rather upset and you would feel somewhat under siege, which is exactly how the family feels at this point."
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