Alternative Voices | Sojourners

Alternative Voices

Thanks for the article on "Opposition Radio" (by Ted Parks, September-October 2003). Interestingly, there’s a growing effort to voice opposition on that bastion of right-wing thought, commercial talk radio. Much to my surprise, it’s simple to call in and challenge their patterns of reactionary thought. Many people assume that calls of dissent will be screened out, but in four years of calling into both local and national shows, rarely has a host refused my call. The format demands concision and some patience to endure the ads and temperamental hosts, but it only takes a moment to inject a comment about social justice and to suggest alternative sources of information. Some hosts, such as Michael Medved, welcome dissent and have interviewed figures such as Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky. There are progressive hosts such as Enid Goldstein on KNRC in Denver, Randi Rhodes on WJNO in Palm Beach, Neil Rogers on WQAM in Miami (all of which can be streamed), and the United Auto Workers-funded www.ieamericaradio.com, which features a leading critic of corporate power, Thom Hartmann.

There’s a little insurgency of thought going on over the airwaves. More voices from the Christian Left would be great to hear. Why let Rush Limbaugh’s "dittoheads" have all the fun?

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Sojourners Magazine January 2004
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