Pam Furr II

Dave of the11thhour writes about his impressions of an exchange between radio talk show host Pam Furr, and one of her callers earlier this week. Whether by coincidence or by "intelligent design" we both ended up listening to the same program. I listen to Pam Furr Monday, through Friday, and find her program to be the most interesting program on the local radio scene during the time slot her program occupies. Yet Dave relates almost exactly the same impression which I came away with from an earlier exchange Pam Furr had with another caller several months ago.

One thing I will not do is approach any critique of Pam Furr through Ad Hominem attacks. Such an attack is unwarranted. Also in all fairness to Pam Furr she is paid to "bring in the listeners" by generating interesting and controversial on air exchanges. That isn't a easy task to accomplish without stepping on someone's feelings. She's bound to offend some of her listeners including me.

The fact is listeners to talk radio programs can not assume that conservative radio host are actually as conservative as they sound, nor should we assume that some of the few liberal voices on talk radio are as liberal as they sound.

Middle of the road may be practical, but it's not as interesting as getting a good on air controversy started by advocating an extreme view. The polarizing exchanges we hear so often on radio talk shows are designed to keep the listeners interested.

Despite this understanding I still have problems with Pam Furr's program. On many occassions she seems to agree with callers simply because they sound as if they support her views. This despite the fact that the callers may be weaving in ideas that even Pam Furr herself would never endorse. I mentioned that in my prior post on Pam Furr (click on the link above). Dave of the11thhour mentions this same readiness on the part of Pam Furr to take and run with something a caller says simply because the caller sounds like they agree with her - whether what that caller says is based in fact or not.

It may be that Pam Furr isn't as well read in history, or science, or all the topics which come up on her show as we'd wish. Who can blame her for not being an expert on WWII, or Stem Cell research? Yet I am beginning to suspect that Pam Furr is all too willing to agree with what "sounds" conservative just to "sound" like she is in agreement with her Right Wing fanbase.

This can only act to damage Pam Furr's credibility.

Something Dave of the11thhour once shared with me many years ago was his iteration of the "Seven P Method". Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. Dave picked that up in a Radio & Television class down Carbondale will attending SIU-C.

My suggestion to Pam Furr is that she spend more time studying up on the subjects she intends to discuss on her talk show. And that she not be so willing to agree with callers simply because they sound as if they agree with her. If she doesn't know something she needs to admit it. No one expects you to be an expert in every subject Pam.