Conservative Talk Radio

When I’m at work, sometimes I have access to the radio. And there are a couple of talk stations that, of course, are saturated with opinion shows from a right-wing, conservative perspective. Now there’s nothing wrong about this, as far as I’m concerned. I like hearing different takes on the issues of the day. I’d just like to hear a more liberal take on them every now and then, that’s all. But even conceding that I’m only going to hear the conservative shows on my radio, I would at least expect the shows to show some reasonable variation as far as the actual subject matter for discussion is concerned.

And, to be fair, there are some differences between shows. Neal Boortz is a confirmed libertarian (except when the military is concerned) who lashes out from time to time against organized religion and what he sees as attempts by them to influence public policy. Michael Savage is hung up on his own continual rant about “borders-language-culture” and sometimes goes off on autobiographical tangents (which I often find to be touching). When he pitches an occasional angry fit on the air (like he did recently against Mississippi Senator Trent Lott), he reminds me of that insane newscaster in the movie Network who said, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!” It really cracks me up when Savage explodes like this. Both Boortz and Savage express unremitting contempt for fellow talk show host Bill O’Reilly, whom Savage sarcastically dubs “The Leprechaun”. In spite of the fact that I personally dislike and usually politically disagree with these two, I find myself respecting and listening to them more than other hosts like O’Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Mark Davis, Jerry Doyle, Rush Limbaugh, or Sean Hannity, all of whom sound disingenuous and phony to me. Also, I like the way Boortz and Savage talk about their home towns on the air (Boortz in Atlanta and Savage in San Francisco).

But there is one conservative talk show host who is, in my opinion, leaps and bounds above the others: Gregg Knapp. I first began to listen to him in 2000, when he was the local Gainesville, Florida, weekday-morning talk show host on 97.3 WSKY. Later, he left to join a station in Texas. But now he’s come back with his own nationwide syndicated show, and is on a different Gainesville station (99.5 WBXY) early on weekday evenings. Knapp can be counted on to parrot most of the conservative talking points you’d hear on the other shows, but he works hard to win you over to his side with detailed facts and reasoned arguing. One of his most compelling tactics is to take an issue and progress through the pro and con arguments from each side’s point of view, usually at a breakneck pace. Sure, he makes fun of people whom I generally support, but that’s part of the game. I personally like and respect Gregg. He’s the “real McCoy”! Neil Boortz and Michael Savage are entertaining, but I have my guard up against them. But Greg Knapp is a different kind of host: he persuades by appealing to the listeners’’ common sense, without drowning them in a sea of insults, fear-mongering, ideological mumbo-jumbo, and phony patriotism the way too many of the others carry out their craft. His style should be the imitated standard that other talk show hosts try to live up to, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they may speak from. He’s still got a ways to go in his career, but he’s going in the “right” direction. I wish Gregg Knapp the best!