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Ladies and gentlemen,
I have one question for you today. There is a talk show host in South Florida, on WJNO-FM, named Randi Rhodes. She is entertaining, forceful, very accomodating to her audience, and unafraid to tackle tough topics. She consistently blows the socks off of Rush Limbaugh in the ratings for her area.
Why isn't she being groomed for a national audience?
Let's see. Could it have anything to do with the fact that she is a...gasp..."liberal?" That she actually dares to *challenge* the conservative status quo instead of lining up with the Limbaughs and the Hannitys and the rest of that breed to fawn over the pronouncements from the Bush administration and the right wing of American politics?
As someone with five years of experience in radio, take my advice. Give the American public an alternative to the relentless, one-sided barrage of right-wing blather currently filling the airwaves. You will be pleasantly surprised at the positive, and profitable, reaction Randi gets.
Just think. What Rush was to talk radio in 1993, Randi could be to talk radio in 2003. That's good journalism and good business.
Thanks for listening.
MB
I am a middle-class American who is politically independent. I am originally from New York City where I worked diligently as a volunteer in several poverty-filled communities. I consider myself a PATRIOT and a liberal.
I am blessed to live now in Boca Raton, Florida and even more blessed because I am one of the few who could listen live to Randi Rhodes, an insightful, sincere, political liberal who does her HOMEWORK more than ANYONE in the media today!
Randi is able to make her points succinctly and precisely on target. She is a breath of liberal fresh air in a media that has been taken over by an ANGRY, BITTER group of reactionaries symbolized by such POORLY PREPARED personalities as Rush Limbaugh.
Limbaugh has consistently had LOWER ratings than Randi Rhodes in the EXACT SAME local area here in South Florida. She airs on your Clear Channel Network right after Limbaugh does, so their marketing numbers DOES MEAN SOMETHING! Yet Limbaugh is carried nationally by your network and Randi Rhodes is heard on a small, weak radio station, WJNO, which can barely be heard by we South Floridians who live here locally.
The American public is a Liberal "Silent Majority" which has lost its voice as more and more radio and television stations are bought up by large corporations that have historically aligned themselves with a right-of-center Republican Party who they feel will be more favorable to their corporate profits. American liberal media is all but DEAD and people like Randi Rhodes are SILENCED!
It's time that Clear Channel leads a return to the ideals upon which America was born...Freedom of Speech! I call upon Clear Channel to SYNDICATE Randi Rhodes as a voice for the COMMON MAN...we need a voice like hers to stand up for OUR rights rather than the conservative-biased media which has sided with large corporations and are adding to the EROSION of American values!
PLEASE SYNDICATE RANDI RHODES!
P.S. You have both MS. Rhodes and Mr. Limbaugh under contract. It would make for GREAT RADIO and "ratings" to set up a series of shows where both Randi Rhodes and Rush Limbaugh argue there points of view in a "point-counterpoint" kind of format. Besides full-length shows, these two could also do shorter 2-5 minute "fillers" presenting opinions from the right and left. That's what we American's have always stood for...listening to BOTH sides and then making up our minds after we weigh all the facts.
MR, Boca Raton, Florida
To the board members at Clearchannel:
As someone who has grown up in South Florida, I have been listening to Randi Rhodes since she has been on the air. After living out-of-state for almost six years, I returned to Florida just after 9/11/01. One of the first things I did was scan the stations to find familiar voices such as Neil Rogers, etc. Finally I found Randi at a surprisingly low-power station, WJNO in West Palm Beach, which is owned by your company. I was pleasantly surprised to find Randi had reinvented herself since I had last heard her, having moved from a variety-based talk format to an issues-based talk format, and shown herself to be a tireless researcher and entertaining host.
When I realized that it was difficult to hear her in Fort Lauderdale, I searched for whatever Miami station might be carrying the show. There was none. Further research revealed that no other station carried her show.
"Why isn't she syndicated?" I asked myself, and then decided it must be a ratings issue. But we all know this is not the case. By popularity, community standing, and ratings, Randi Rhodes should have been syndicated long ago. With her high ratings in her market, Randi has proven herself to be profitable, as well as a valuable source of information and entertainment to a large audience within the sound of her voice.
So then I decided that it must be because Clearchannel only syndicates conservative talk shows. The record would seem to support that conclusion.
But then I realized it could be something even uglier than bias. During a recent interview with Oliver North, Randi made the allegation that the reason Clearchannel would not syndicate her was because Rush Limbaugh had threatened to pull his show from Clearchannel's stations if they did. I call this uglier than bias because if it is true as I suspect, it confirms Clearchannel's political bias, as well as it's cowardace. Fear of Rush, and in turn, Rush's fear of competition and contradictory opinions.
I would ask the board to address this issue. Democrats and progressives (or liberals if you prefer) have all but written off Clearchannel as the best example of corporate conservative control over the media. Syndicating Randi Rhodes would be profitable for Clearchannel, as well as redeem the company in the eyes of the Democratic majority of this country. If Clearchannel believes that Rush would actually pull his show because of his fear of one talk show host on a low-power station in a small market, you should ask yourself, does Clearchannel need a host who extorts the company out of fear of losing his standing?
Sincerely,
DS, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
I sent an email to the whole list. I got back receipts from everyone of them saying "deleted without being read". So much for that.
BH , New York, NY
Sending this e-mail to those that can make a difference.
I'm not one of those political fanatics that live and breath politics. I'm just an ordinary, middle-class majority unspoken voice that listens to Randi Rhodes every time I get a chance. Her knowledge and passion about the issues she speaks about reflects many opinions that are not being heard. We are fortunate to have her in our listening area but not to share her with the rest of the country is just not American. Why should the country be restricted to a one-sided voice of opinion (Rush Limbaugh) if Randi Rhodes represents the voice of the unspoken masses? Her opinion stirs thought and reaction to all that listen. Makes us question why instead of accepting because that is just what's being told.
In a time when Americans need to feel that their opinion and concerns count, let Randi Rhodes be that voice of logic, concern and poltical balance. America needs Randi Rhodes.
Dear Mr. Mays:
Randi Rhodes is good, she gets great ratings, and you won't have to pay your stations to take her (unlike how certain East Coast stations had to be bribed to take Sean Hannity's worthless show).
Syndicate her! You won't regret it, despite what Rush and his RNC backers tell you.
Why does Clear Channel refuse to syndicate Randi Rhodes.
I a democrat who has a very long commute in the morning listens to a lot of talk radio like 810, I think it's very unfair that liberal radio is being cut short, because of a stupid remark I heard from Rush saying that Rush will take his elsewhere if Randi Rhodes goes on. What are the conservatives scared of - that this country will finally hear some truth about what the radical conservatives are doing to this nation? Be fair let the true Americans speak and be heard!!
Thanks for listening a true American a (liberal democrat) long live Clinton & gore the best years this nation has ever seen.
MD, Livermore, CA
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