Suffering From Political “War Fatigue”?

Do you feel like this whole Us-vs.-Them-Conservative-Liberal argument is so last year?

Are you tired of turning on the radio and hearing the same-old-same-old from syndicated polticical talkshow hosts?

Are you tired of hearing about the election that’s been over almost a year?

Do you feel like maybe Dragnet had the right idea — “Just the facts, ma’am”?

Would you rather listen to a ridiculous radio commercial about what the local ambulance chaser can offer you than what fools the evil party (whichever it is) are and what nastiness they’re up to?

Apparently, you aren’t alone.

Twin Cities listeners have been tuning out political talk radio.

Locally, conservative-talk icon Rush Limbaugh’s show has lost 43 percent of its audience among 25- to 54-year-olds in the past year. Sean Hannity’s show is down a whopping 63 percent. The shift is serious enough that “we’re weighing where these shows fit for us in the future,” according to Todd Fisher, general manager at KSTP (1500 AM), which carries both syndicated programs.

Many Americans also are switching the dial. While ratings for political talk radio typically drop the year after an election, experts around the country sense something else in the air. Many metro listeners are turning to local, often sports-oriented shows.

“We’re not sure yet what’s really going on,” said talk radio veteran Ken Kohl, Clear Channel’s director of news and talk programming for northern California. “In general, the talk shows that are succeeding are ones that haven’t been reliving the election, or constantly harping on the polarization between liberals and conservatives.”

Kohl thinks many listeners have tuned out because of “war fatigue. I don’t think a lot of people want to talk or hear about the war at this point.” [“Twin Cities turning deaf ear to political talk radio shows” (StarTribune.com)]

Last year, I said over and over that politics was the new racism. It seemed like it was ending friendships and causing family feuds. It was all anyone could talk and argue about. Heck, I couldn’t pop into Starbucks without my co-worker nearly coming to blows with the cute surfer guy who works there. (Though they now get along quite well, which is strange.) Maybe that trend is dying at last.

I don’t mind talking and debating amicably and intelligently about politics. In fact, I love it. It’s one of my favorite passtimes. I don’t want to do it all the time and I don’t want to fight about it. Sometime last October, on message boards, I started to stop responding to any political threads that deteriorated into name-calling and childish insulting and harrassment. Right around mid-October, all you had to do was imply a political topic and the very next response would be a string of unpleasantness. I think that’s when I started suffering from “War Fatigue.”

For the most part, most people have already made up their minds and they aren’t going to change their minds, even if their facts are proven wrong. Personally, I have my beliefs and opinions but I’m willing to question both and explore the other side’s POV. I have a Sunday School teacher to thank for that — he challenged me to write opposing essays on my opinions (ie. I wrote an essay against Capital Punishment and on for it). I think it helped me to realize other people have valid reasons for their opinions.

But, like I said, most people have already made up their minds. Sometimes it’s not worth the debate if they are just going to repeat the same thing over and over. That’s what makes it tiring.

I’m enjoying the talk lately on this blog and some others though. I still see the childishness here and there. I’ll keep my rule-of-thumb to steer clear of those fist fights, but I’m slowly recovering from the fatigue…I think.

How about you?

tags: politics, fatigue, talk radio

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