The Two Sides of Politics

A week doesn’t go by that I am not talking to friends and colleagues on both sides of the political aisle. Despite the belief that there are two teams (political parties) that are extremely different in their beliefs, it’s not what the research supports.

The disparity of perceptions tends to be because of the noise level of the extreme opinions on both sides of the two major political parties.

The research that I’ve seen regarding the political opinion of Americans is that most are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Right down the middle. We all want a better world and a better nation within which we live and raise our children. Many of those I talk to long for a softer, gentler, and kinder environment for their everyday life.

Many among your audience are looking for a break from the bad news, arguments, and debates that are being discussed among families and friends. The need exists to turn down the noise and slow the occurrence of the frequent distractions interrupting our lives. Whatever the situation they find themselves in, many want a break from what has become a new obsession with “Doomscrolling and Doomsurfing.”

The two terms, Doomscrolling and Doomsurfing, are terms that became a part of our common vocabulary during the early days of the pandemic. They refer to the tendency to continue to surf or scroll through bad news on social media. Even though that news may be infuriating, saddening, disheartening, or depressing, it doesn’t seem to stop the scroller.

Add to this the increasing frequency of online stories from the citizen journalist. That’s the identifier for anyone with a phone and a social media account who reports “news”, regardless of its accuracy. I find myself being tricked frequently. I see a video that was AI-generated or a story that could be real … only to Google the topic and find it to be false. These stories are often shared by others as if they’re real. That lifts the level of negativity even higher.

The opportunity for non-news stations is to be an oasis in the desert of heated controversy. You should always match the audience’s use of your station, and you should be true to your audience’s perception of your station. What I am suggesting you focus on, making it a mission, is to provide an environment that is stress-free. Be committed to avoiding politics and all that comes with it. Do that and you’ll see your station’s time spent listening increase.

That isn’t to say that your station or your personalities need to change who they are or the way in which they deliver content, alter their sound, or become someone that they aren’t. It does mean that we need to accept that most people are just plain tired of “It.” Tired of the argument between political parties. Tired of air talent on music or sports stations who lack spouting off on opinions.

Those listeners who desire talk radio and want validation will listen to conservative-talk radio (which is found mostly on commercial stations) or liberal-talk radio (which is found mostly on non-commercial stations), and they’ll flip between news channels on TV or listen to pay radio or streams.

However, many of those fans need a break, too. Television ratings spike when the news is big and stories are top of mind, but based on what we’ve seen lately, those ratings settle down and return to almost normal viewing levels pretty quickly as the news cycle evolves.

My belief is that most talent on non-news/talk stations should be encouraged to look for Good News stories, create features like Random Acts of Kindness, and identify individuals who are spreading positivity in the lives of your listeners and within your local community. Talent should avoid rumormongering, mean-spirited dialogue and provide us with an escape. Even for a moment … give us a distraction.

This isn’t a one-size-fits-all recommendation, but it is an encouragement to pause for an assessment of the talent and their content on your station, and stop doing what you’ve always done “because we’ve always done it that way.” We need a softer, kinder, gentler touch.

We all need a friend. We really need a break.