Recently, I had dinner with a friend whom I’ve known for nearly twenty years. Due to the pandemic, it had been a while since we’d seen each other in person.
The conversation quickly turned to one topic- outrage.
Well, let me rephrase that…the FEAR of outrage.
He shared stories with me of colleagues at his new job who constantly preach the gospels of “woke” culture. How social media has become a graveyard that he barely goes onto anymore
“Even if we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic, I don’t think I’d be going out very much,” he admitted. “Every time I’m around people I don’t know, I feel like I’m walking on pins and needles.”
I understand exactly how he felt.
Both of us, as individuals, have always been centrists. That philosophy seems to have gone the way of the dodo.
“You either have to be in one camp or the other, no matter what the subject is,” he admitted.
“Truth,” I replied. “There is no room to stand in the middle.”
This trend has had a disheartening effect on the media.
A couple of weeks ago, I penned an article on who would replace Rush Limbaugh after the iconic talk-show host passed away. Usually after an article of mine is published, I post it on all my social media channels.
Not this time, however.
I did post the article on my Twitter account and my LinkedIn page (mostly followed by former colleagues and broadcast industry professionals).
I avoided posting the article on my Facebook page…inhabited by mostly friends, friends of friends and family members. Why? Because I knew what the reaction would be from many of them, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. The article was not a praise piece on Limbaugh, but simply an assessment of the current landscape of conservative media. But because RUSH LIMBAUGH was in the headline, I had a feeling I’d have to be disabling the comments section in a very short period.
There are times I’ll listen to Ben Shapiro. Philosophically, I disagree with most of his stances. Yet, I find him intriguing because I appreciate my own way of thinking challenged.
I’d never admit that to anyone I didn’t know extremely well. And even amongst certain friends, I wouldn’t admit it.
This is where we are at.
There is far too much extremism in this country…on BOTH right and left. Rational discourse has been drowned out by a tidal wave of conspiracy theories on one side and cancel culture on the other. One talking head will make me feel shame and the other will tell me who is to blame.
For both right and left, the exercise has become about “owning” each other. Cable “news” has become unwatchable…and saturated with outrage porn. I sense a lot of disingenuous content. Talking heads used to provide entertainment through the prism of the news. Now all I see is reaching for the low hanging fruit of trolling by way of clickbait.
None of this is entertaining. None of it is insightful. None of it stimulates my intellect.
As a longtime content curator and media consumer…the landscape has become nauseating.
Many notable figures have begun to say, “no mas”.
Bill Maher of HBO’s Real Time has turned wokeness fatigue into a weekly topic.
“Liberals need a ‘stand your ground’ law for cancel culture,” Maher opined on one recent show. “So, that when the woke mob comes after you for some ridiculous offense, you’ll stand your ground. Stop apologizing. Because I can’t keep up anymore with who’s on the shitlist.”
“Andy Warhol was wrong,” he said. “In the future everyone will not experience fifteen minutes of fame but fifteen minutes of shame. 62% of Americans say they have opinions they’re afraid to share. 80% of Americans; young, old, rich, poor, conservative, liberal, white, minority…all hate the current atmosphere of hypersensitivity. Yea, everybody hates it, and no one stands up to it.”
Those numbers Maher cited in his monologue grabbed my attention. If there is validity in them, why is neither side catering to the middle?
I recently interviewed my friend and conservative talk show host Todd Herman for BNM. One of the questioned I posed to him was about catering to the middle by having a show with a true left/right dynamic.
“The Nation has been divided so completely, and these divisions are being inflamed so brilliantly, that I believe a new radio show with left and right cannot work. You will be losing 50% of the audience every few minutes,” Herman said. “You and I can find a way to respect one another’s views, because I think you and I enjoy honest debate. You are a guy who likes to think about what people tell you, and I am a person who is fascinated with how people think. My faith calls me to have love for people and your nature, I believe, is to find the good in folks, even dangerous, right-wing lunatics like me. These characteristics make for great conversation, and I imagine it could work well in a podcast where people choose to listen to a Left and Right dynamic and have success. But, not with radio where tune-ins matter.”
Herman may be on to something when he speaks of the digital space.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a piece about The Fifth Column Podcast. If you aren’t listening to it yet, I challenge you to do so. The hosts of the program, Kmele Foster, Matt Welch, and Michael Moynihan are independents in every sense of the word. They take jabs at left and right, young, and old, and even themselves. It’s a fascinating listen that is unpredictable and goes against the grain of most mass media.
That article on The Fifth Column garnered more engagement than anything I’ve ever posted in my ten years on Twitter. I had people from all over the world liking, re-tweeting, and messaging me about it. It was like I was being welcomed into a brand-new ecosystem of people who were fed up and had found a haven from all the static. I still get people who slide into my DMs based on that singular article. Perhaps there is a place for those of us in the middle…if someone has the tenacity to create it.
Ryan Maguire is a columnist for BSM, and a longtime sports and news radio program director. He has managed KIRO-FM in Seattle, WQAM in Miami, 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, 610 Sports in Kansas City, and 105.7/1250 The Fan in Milwaukee. Presently, Ryan serves as the Executive Producer of Chicago White Sox baseball on ESPN 1000 in Chicago. Originally from Michigan, Ryan still holds out hope that the Detroit Lions will one day deliver a Super Bowl title. He can be reached on Twitter @RMaguire1701.
