Well, I guess we’re at war now, or at least we’re involved in fighting someone else’s war. It involves nukes and crazy people. Besides providing a convenient distraction from the president’s no-good, very bad recent weeks, and putting a target on Americans worldwide, it will be material for talk radio and cable news for however long this thing goes on.
On the bright side, it gives us all a chance to say “yellowcake” again, which will remind us to go out and buy some Entenmann’s pound cake or maybe Tastykake Chocolate Juniors, as long as we’re not in a radiation zone and the Iranians aren’t targeting Publix or Wawa.
Wait, where was I? Oh, right, talk radio at war. Talk radio was different during Vietnam, and didn’t exist during previous wars; hosts were pretty much solidly in favor of the Iraq War, and should have learned some lessons on how to talk about war.
The difference today is that Americans are not going to be solidly in favor of sending missiles and, if it comes to that, troops to the Middle East. There’ll also be a lot of mixed responses, disapproving of American involvement while also in favor of destroying Iran’s nuclear development, and if Americans are indeed targeted for retaliation, that’s a whole other story.
The upshot is that audience reaction to talk shows about the war is not as clearly predictable as previous wars – it’s hard to generate a groundswell of patriotic fervor when the war didn’t even need America to be involved in the first place – and you, assuming you’re a talk host or producer, are going to find out what the public’s reaction will be on the fly. Ratings will probably go up, though. National crises will do that.
One thing, however, that you absolutely should do is to recognize that a lot of the news, or maybe all of it, that is generated by this conflict will be enveloped in propaganda. Everybody does it, some countries more transparently than others. Anything coming out of the Pentagon or White House will spin every incident as a win for America, Israel will do the same, and Iran will often be pumping out the exact opposite. All of them will be claiming that theirs is the truth and the other guys are lying. And they will send out their lackeys to spread their spin on your shows.
Try not to fall for it. Be suspicious if the government, any government, offers a spokesperson or official to call in to your show. All you’ll get from those interviews will be “The Official Story,” which often turns out to be less than the truth, and any tough questions will be deflected, because they’re experts in not answering the questions you ask.
The White House and Pentagon will answer any question with an irrelevant answer that includes some gratuitous Biden bashing. Israel will keep going back to the phrase “right to exist” and other survival material. The Iranians will claim that any attacks failed (“It’s only a flesh wound!”) and that there will be retaliation. After that, it’s going to be “we’re on to Cincinnati” time.
What we’re left with is a confusing tangle of information and disinformation. You’ve learned to “trust but verify,” but now you’ll be operating under “distrust if you can’t verify.” We won’t really know anything until well after the fact, if then. Meanwhile, everyone is going to a) have an opinion and b) be on edge. Wonderful, just wonderful. You know, I was hoping that retirement would be stress-free. This isn’t that.
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Perry Michael Simon is a weekly news media columnist for Barrett Media. He previously served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com. Prior to joining the industry trade publication, Perry spent years in radio working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. He can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @PMSimon.
