more cat pictures

YOUR CORRESPONDENT MAY BE, PERHAPS, THE FIRST TO WONDER if the ongoing flap over Michael "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder" Savage in the wake of his ill-advised remarks about autism and autism-spectrum disorders may be enough for some talkback-radio broadcasters to start doing some serious soul-searching as to whether they should continue in the format, if not already.

Which they may want to now more than ever, especially considering:

• the strident and, @ times, vitriolic tone among especially conservative-leaning talkback-radio hosts;
• the appeal of especially conservative-leaning talkback hosts, and their message, to the easily-influenced, vulnerable and marginalised of Society (including some with serious mental and/or emotional disorders as are too easily open to suggestion or influence);
• the risks some talkback hosts (and their broadcasters) are unaware of when said hosts cross the line into outright bigotry, racism, hatemongering, xenophobia or appeals pandering to the crudest and basest of "patriotic" feelings--especially so when such raises questions of incitement to hate crimes; and
• the vast majority of advertisers on talkback radio shows, especially the kind supporting conservative viewpoints, tending to the dubious, questionable or otherwise disreputable, especially so the likes of:
• precious-metals dealers selling gold and silver for "wealth protection" and "investment;"
• "turnkey home business" and "money-making opportunities" tending to overdo it on glowing generalities when it comes to earnings claims as may really be transient to the point of illusory;
• "wealth preservation" programmes crossing the line into offshore "pure trusts" designed solely for tax avoidance more than serious "wealth preservation," if Truth be known;
• "debt consolidation" and "credit repair" companies more than likely demanding payment in advance, notwithstanding the law proscribing the practice;
• "guaranteed approval" offers for loans, grants, credit cards, student loans and other financial services; and
• "travel clubs" that would make Clark Griswold look like Johnny Test, for all we know.

All in all, I would just love to see such broadcasters clinging feebly to talkback radio in these interesting times--especially so such too heavily dependent upon syndicated hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Neal Boortz, Glenn Beck and others of obvious conservative leanings--do some serious soul-searching to the point of:

• perhaps receiving a number of unsolicited "cold-call" offers to buy the station outright, in the hope of making some worthwhile changes in programming and format (especially if the would-be buyers are "hometown" interests);
• putting the station up for sale outright;
• moving to the "woop-woop" and broadcasting on reduced power, in the end meaning a serious dilution in the audience numbers; or
• essentially dropping talkback radio outright and switching to a preferably music-and-personalities-driven format (as WCCO 8-3-0, the Good Neighbour to the Northwest up in the Twin Cities, called "Real Radio" in the early to mid-1980's), the preferred playlist being what the industry calls "middle-of-the-road" ("MOR" for short), a diverse mix of light pop, country, easy-listening, soft oldies and show tunes (encompassing both Broadway and Hollywood soundtracks) interspersed with chatty talk and regular news bulletins.

Even if it requires, for a Reasonable Interval, having to come up with some sappy filler to fill air time and pay the bills pending final sale or other change in format; one such I can recall reading about was where one California station as was in the process of sale a few years back played nothing but the Eagles hit "New Kid in Town" in all manner of possible permutations to fill air time ... and another was an FM station in suburban Duluth featuring nothing but classic and contemporary radio commercials for awhile.

For which we can indirectly thank Michael Savage for bringing about--and, in the end, for the better among American listeners.