Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 1998

Publication Title

Feedback

Volume

39

Issue

2

First Page

8

Last Page

16

Abstract

It's 9:06 a.m. in Omaha, Nebraska. A stout, forty-year-old male with sandy blond air sips a cup of coffee. The "on air" microphone turns red signaling the start of a new morning on talk radio. "Good morning you're on news/talk 1110 KFAB." Tom Becka, a three-year veteran of talk radio speaks quickly and loudly. Becka describes his show and re audience as the gang in the kitchen. "By that I mean, if you're at a party the best part of the party is the gang in the kitchen," says Becka. "They're arguing, they're fighting, they're laughing, they're discussing, they're disagreeing. . . that's what we do on my show."

"The Tom Becka Show" airs five times a week on 1110 KFAB. In downtown Omaha. "Talk of the Town with Steve Brown" attracts its own listeners to 1290 KKAR. You're on Talk of the Town with Steve Brown. What's on your mind Dorothy? " the svelte 57-year-old Brown says with a deep voice. Brown describes his story as a "public forum for elected officials and their constituents" and for "people with interests and expertise on activities other than politics."

These two radio programs have a common background in that both are caller-driven political talk shows broadcast live from Omaha, Nebraska each weekday morning from 00 a.m. to I l:00 a.m. (Becka is on until Noon). The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of these two Omaha, Nebraska radio talk show hosts during the 1996 presidential campaign, and to see if callers may be influenced by the host's views or if the host may be influenced by the caller's views.

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