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SALZMAN: Caplis-Silverman gap too narrow

Wider ideological spread would be better

By Jason Salzman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 19, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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As a media critic, I've often felt like kicking KHOW talk radio hosts Dan Caplis and Craig Silverman, but I restrain myself.

I know that violence against talk radio hosts is the worst form of media criticism. And it's illegal.

It's true that kicking journalists was popular among media critics during the early Neanderthal era, but this is the year 2008.

Plus, in the case of Caplis and Silverman, I like their show more often than not. It airs 3-6 p.m. on 630 AM.

They'll take on the most serious issues (e.g., the Iraq war) and the most trivial (e.g., Britney Spears' pregnant sister). It's fun and intelligent, mostly because of the disagreements between these two very smart hosts about even the dumbest topics.

I wish they wouldn't latch on to stuff like Ward Churchill, but their core job is entertainment, and they obviously find trivial matters in Boulder more entertaining than I do.

It also bugs me that Caplis is a right-wing Republican and Silverman is a centrist Democrat - which creates the perception that the political spectrum starts with centrism and ends with social conservatism.

Caplis is among Denver's most right-wing pundits. If he ran for governor, as he's threatened to do, he'd get Focus on the Family founder James Dobson's support in a heartbeat.

Silverman outlined his history of Democratic centrism in a letter to me that's posted on my blog (Bigmedia .org). He writes that he has an open mind, but in reality he rarely strays from the Democratic center. When he does, he usually tilts right, not left.

Surprisingly, Silverman refused to answer a single question from a long list I sent him, covering basic stuff like "Do you favor elimination of the estate tax?"

Caplis wrote me that because he and Silverman don't "walk lock step with either political party, we cover a much broader portion of the spectrum than the typical hard-left vs. hard-right show."

Hardly. Imagine if a local radio talk show pitted a real progressive against a guy like Caplis.

By a real progressive, I mean someone who supports these kinds of things: raising the federal minimum wage to $11 per hour; a ban on construction of new coal-fired power plants; a government-run health-care system; the free distribution of condoms in public high schools; gay marriage; an increase in the capital gains tax; troop withdrawal from Iraq within six months; and the legalization and taxation of marijuana.

Silverman shouldn't be replaced with a progressive host. He and Caplis have a good thing going.

But Denver needs more progressive voices on talk radio. Jay Marvin (mornings on 760 AM) is the only local progressive talk radio host on English-language commercial radio - while the right wing has five local talkers, whose falsehoods and distortions are chronicled by Colorado Media Matters.

A dual-host show with a wide ideological spread between the hosts could be successful and bring some ideological balance to Denver's talk radio landscape.

Harvey to retire? Good news from KOA. Kris Olinger, Clear Channel's AM program director, e-mailed me that Paul Harvey, narrator of two radio features, "will most likely retire soon."

She also wrote that Harvey is "without question one of our listeners' favorites."

If you like Harvey, you might enjoy Colorado Matters, which airs weekdays from 10-11 a.m. on Colorado Public Radio, 1340 AM. It tries to be a little folksy, like Harvey, but it's infinitely better, with light and serious topics, presented in a long-interview format.

Phantom quotes. "Detractors call him 'erratic' and 'incoherent.' " That's a sentence from a Jan. 6 Denver Post story on Gov. Bill Ritter's first year in office. Despite the quotation marks, the article did not name the actual persons saying these mean things about Ritter.

So you'd think that this is an example of a reporter allowing anonymous sources to level a petty attack.

Not so. Post Managing Editor Gary Clark explained in an e-mail that this "wasn't a case of offering anonymity to a single critic. Instead, it was an attempt to characterize what a number of sources said."

A reporter, or any writer, shouldn't use a quotation in a summary, unless the summary contains an actual quotation. Clark acknowledged that "maybe" they shouldn't have done it.

Health costs? Both dailies have reported that Gov. Bill Ritter is worried about the expense of his goal of providing health care to all Coloradans, regardless of which plan is chosen.

Reporters should challenge this notion by noting that the governor's own Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform states that a single-payer system would actually reduce total state health-care expenditures by $2 billion.

But it would require, according to the commission's report, an 8 percent income tax increase.

Our political leaders should be asked whether the real issue is cost or political will.

Jason Salzman, president of Cause Communications and board chairman of Rocky Mountain Media Watch, is the author of Making the News: A Guide for Activists and Nonprofits. Reach him at salzmanj@RockyMountainNews.com.

Comments

  • January 19, 2008

    7:16 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mike_In_Hartsel writes:

    Your “balanced” approach was attempted and it failed. It was called “Air America”. The left-wing pundits really have little to offer except socialist solutions that have never solved a problem. You don’t like them to “latch on to stuff like Ward Churchill” because you don’t want one of your left-wing wackos exposed for the fraud he is.

  • January 19, 2008

    9:49 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rickg19611 writes:

    Why does RMN pay this scumbag Salzman to do NOTHING except spew his jealous whine about those who are liked and listened to by tens of millions of Americans?

    No one with any IQ above 12 considers Salzman anything other than an irrelevent little whiner that spews hate.

    Shame on you RMN for paying for his hate. No wonder your readership continues to decline.

  • January 19, 2008

    9:51 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    a_watcher writes:

    I'm a conservative.

    I favor a $50 an hour minimum wage in Boulder and Denver only. Heck, lets also pile on mandatory full boat health care for employees. I'll run the risk that workers outside those two cities will flock there and leave the rest of the state without labor.

    Will you run the risk that businesses will move out of those two cities to survive?

    If you want to run this experiment, I will happily vote for it. Will the last business to leave those two cities remember to turn out the lights?

  • January 19, 2008

    1:30 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    watcher writes:

    You folks obviously need to travel. You talk like the old conservatives who knew nothing about the Soviets before the wall came down and today know nothing about the beautiful women coming from the old Soviet Union, as opposed to the stereotypical ugly skunks that Madison Avenue touted before the fall. Even worse, nothing was made of the superior training of Russian computer experts and scientists as well as the Artists who now are taking over America's identity in our major art's institutions. The Anna Netrebkos of the world are more beautiful, act and move better and sing like angels. And like IBM hiring Russian computer experts, America hires the Russian product over the American talent. Consider that conservative Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn's beautiful singer daughter Sarah would have a steady job at the Met had she been born Russian and gone through socialist schools. We scream about unlettered workers from Mexico but we replace our own major talent with talent stolen from the old Soviet Empire. But you need not look at the Commies, you can look to the way that the socialist programs in education, economics, health and the arts are set to whip our butts in Europe.

  • January 19, 2008

    2:15 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Darwin writes:

    Salzman, you state "But Denver needs more progressive voices on talk radio. Jay Marvin (mornings on 760 AM) is the only local progressive talk radio host on English-language commercial radio - while the right wing has five local talkers, whose falsehoods and distortions are chronicled by Colorado Media Matters."
    You resort to the typical name calling used by your ilk when you know, or should know, that you are on shaky ground or totally off the mark. You mention the lack of "progressive" voices vs. the abundance of "right wing" voices in the air media. Marvin is a left wing hack heard by very few people. I guess the listening audience is expressing their views. You should also acknowledge that the print media is overwhelmingly "left wing". This includes the two Denver rags. Should not there be more "conservative" newspapers? Newspaper subscriptions are also dropping nationwide. Again, I guess the reading audience is expressing their views. Bet you don't like my use of labels do you? Eat some cheese with your whine before you go to bed and admit your true bias in the morning!

  • January 19, 2008

    3:08 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Michael writes:

    "But Denver needs more progressive voices on talk radio."

    Why do we "need" these voices? If the marketplace does not demand it then it would appear that most people in Denver and Colorado (and probably the USA as well) do not share or support the opinions that you listed:
    Raising the federal minimum wage to $11 per hour; a ban on construction of new coal-fired power plants; a government-run health-care system; the free distribution of condoms in public high schools; gay marriage; an increase in the capital gains tax; troop withdrawal from Iraq within six months; and the legalization and taxation of marijuana.
    Those are all very far left positions and most people do not agree with them - as far as I can tell. Are you proposing that because a "fringe" element of the left advocates for these morally destructive and economically destructive public policies that we "need" to hear about them on the radio? I disagree and has been pointed out, this has been tried and it has failed - Air America. And some of this stuff can be found on PBS and NPR. Try Bill Moyers if you need to hear about this far left stuff.
    Let me ask you this Mr. Salzman, do we also "need" to hear an opinion that advocates the positions of the KKK and Aryan Nations and other far right positions as well? As a conservative I find them offensive and backward, but since you feel the need for the far left then the far right should be heard as well. But there is not much of a market for that either, is there?

  • January 19, 2008

    3:24 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    watcher writes:

    For Mike,
    The future of work in America with robotics and other automated techniques are predicting no jobs for around forty per cent of the population. The only way to keep those jobs is to cut back on automation and robotics and suffer a lack of comparative advantage with the rest of the world. Japan's stagflation is a result of similar issues with factory automation. But they seem to be more sophisticated culturally than we on taking care of their workers that are put out of jobs. Education will not do it and neither will more service jobs. A whole new way of thinking about sustainability and the jobs provided by the environment and cultural activities will be the only answer unless you just want to give people a basic income for doing nothing. These are neither conservative or liberal talking points but they are the things that the futurists and future oriented economists are wrestling with. Better to wrestle now before beautiful Colorado is turned into West Virginia by the oil industry extracting the shale oil and destroying the incredible beauty of the state. One point that is not made is that prices from Europe and elsewhere are doubling on business products as the dollar has tumbled. That will help the balance of payments deficit but will do nothing for individual entrepreneurs whose office supplies are going through the roof as a result. Before long it will hit Wall Mart and when it does that $11 minimum wage will not come close to dealing with the productivity lag. American business will begin to resemble the Arts that are unable to pay for more than 60% of their costs with ticket prices. If you think that a post-it pad is worth $8 today then you are either rich or delusional. Just Watching.

  • January 19, 2008

    8:59 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    KC writes:

    If more people wanted to listen to progressives, there would be more progressives on the radio. Simple. It's a free and open market. There isn't some secret society dictating what people listen to on the radio.
    How did that "Air America" thing go?

  • January 19, 2008

    10:32 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    GetReal writes:

    Salzman fails to recognize that about half of the general public unwillingly gets its fill of liberal spin from the MSM, Hollywood and the news section of papers like his own, and the reason conservative media outlets are thriving, and liberal ones dying, is conservatives are desperately searching for a place where their perspective is covered without the MSM spin.

    Let the market decide, as it always consistently has, and not any misunderstood "feelings" that it is unfair there is not more liberal views out there.

    We are bombarded with them daily.

    Salzman, being a big shot media critic at a major daily, should know better,

    But is somehow unaware that he is so far left he doesn't even have a clue of what right is.

  • January 21, 2008

    11:42 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jconder45 writes:

    The idea that the right-wing dominance of talk radio is due to popular demand is crap. The corporations that own radio want their interests represented; it's that simple.

  • January 22, 2008

    9:26 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Lowtaxequalsfreedom writes:

    Salzman your progressive list is non-sense. The abolishment of the Marijuana prohibition should never be combined with socialistic economic controls. Many free market, limited government " right wingers" support doing away with the Marijuana prohibition.

    Salzman and anybody else who has not yet Googled "Nolan Quiz" needs to immediately. Google political spectrum as well.

    It is time for you to start your personal discovery of the real political spectrum. Take off the blinders, learn a little and mature your understanding of political science.

  • January 22, 2008

    3:50 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    ItsJustme writes:

    Gene, there's the four of them - Jay, his mother, Salzman and the guy on Colfax and Broadway when the space beams don't interfere with his reception.

  • January 23, 2008

    7:52 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Spencer writes:

    Liberism?? We could actually do with fewer of these types of radio shows. The radio hosts add nothing to the dialogue in this country and we are more and more divisive because of these clowns. it is interesting that the Conservative shows outnumber the Liberal shows by such a great number. Stop listening to these idiots.

  • January 23, 2008

    12:44 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    watcher writes:

    Ah the mosquitoes are out. Pesky little buggers.

  • September 16, 2008

    3:11 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    ajhil writes:

    This is an old thread, but just in case any of the hard core right wingers who've posted here come back to admire their screeds, I offer a little accurate history.
    Rush Limbaugh scrabbled for years with dismal ratings before he managed to attract an audience sufficiently uninformed to relish his brand of conservative sophistry. Likewise Rupert Murdoch shelled out tens of millions of dollars supporting Fox Nausea before that network began to pay for itself.
    You should check the ratings. Randi Rhodes and Ed Schultz, to name just two, are kicking the crap out of Limbaugh et al. in a growing number of big city markets. And that's in spite of the local stations that are bought by conservative business interests and run at a loss in order to exclude liberal commentary. Free market? Right wingers honor it in the breach or when they can control it to their own advantage.
    You might also want to read a few opinion polls (besides those constructed by Republican donor Rasmussan!) From reproductive rights to minimum wage to withdrawal from Bush's War, the majority of Americans favor positions that you neofascists would call far left.
    You just won't admit it