Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Reaction to Wallace



Ziegler seems to have no inhibitions. His style as a radio talk show host seems to have but one purpose, as made clear by Wallace. That style is providing stimulation, and using his natural-born gift as an entertainer to freely debate issues of all backgrounds. This remains a crucial tactic for attracting a wide listener base. Though Wallace describes Ziegler as being polite to callers, this politeness tends to disappear once he gets riled up about a controversial issue. Perhaps we should all be surprised that the KFI radio show is popular and successful, but Wallace provides an insightful argument to prove that Ziegler is a prime candidate for the position. Ziegler’s “job” in this field is not to be an objective third party with no personal interest in matters. It is precisely this talent Wallace speaks of as being able to talk, and talk, and talk some more. It is not based around a journalist’s perspective of purely reporting news. With so many news outlets available to everyone, each one must provide a stance that attracts people, being “different now in terms of both medium and ideology.” An effective host most embody certain characteristics, and Wallace clearly tries to emphasize the uniqueness and importance of Ziegler’s own means of spreading news and stimulating conversation. Every source has its collection of avid listeners, and KFI listeners most probably enjoy the raw sense of humor and oppositional and honest sense of opinion the Ziegler so naturally embodies and portrays. "‘[E]xplaining’ the news really means editorializing, infusing the actual events of the day with the host's own opinions.” I took this affirmation to mean that radio stations provide a site for opinionated people. Everybody wants to be heard, everybody wants to argue for or against what they believe to be right, and everybody wants someone to agree with them. Just like every sports team has its fan base, every talk show attracts a distinctive group of listeners.

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