Wow, I didn't know that no progressive radio existed in the DC area!

[alp227]

I was listening to Thom Hartmann today, and he told one caller (the 2 hours 40 minute mark in this video) that he listened to NPR in the morning since "there was no progressive station in DC" and heard some "corporate-sponsored corporate money" show (I think he's talking about Marketplace Morning Report on WAMU-FM).

The one AM station that ThomHartmann.com lists in Maryland is WZAA 1050, which used to be liberal talk but abandoned that format in 2010.

Seriously? When Washington, DC the city heavily votes Democratic (I do believe so, please refute if I'm wrong)? There are talk stations to serve the more conservative listeners in the VA and MD suburbs and the Beltway elite but not the working-class inner-city DCers except for two black-oriented stations that have the Al Sharpton show.

So I went to radio-locator.com to check, and found that DC has:
- WMAL 630 (with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin from noon to 9 in the evening)
- WTNT 730 which dubs itself "The Truth" even though it broadcasts the Laura Ingraham and Michael Savage shows...and you know how honest they are. (At least during early afternoons WTNT broadcasts America's Radio News Network, which I believe should be a rather neutral news program and a reliable one as Thom Hartmann also does Talk Radio News segments.)
- WOL 1450 (a black-oriented station that includes Al Sharpton in its lineup, the station overall doesn't seem to be Air America straight up)
- WHFS 1580 (lineup includes Dr. Laura and Lou Dobbs)

Meanwhile, Baltimore has:
- WCBM 680 (where they listen to Hannity/Limbaugh if they can't get WMAL, and WCBM's website is POISON)
- WOLB 1010 (This black station broadcasts Al Sharpton too)

[Rex]

1. Why would there be any progressives in DC period?

It appears they sold that area to the highest bidder...which currently is China if I am not mistaken. Maybe Saudi Arabia or the UAE.

[marmar]

2. The population of the District of Columbia is one of the most liberal in the country.

nt

[Kennah]

4. And they pay federal income taxes, and they don't get to vote in Presidential elections

Taxation without representation

[Recovered Repug]

9. According to the 23rd Amendment they do. /nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. They don't have representation in Congress

But yes, they DO get to vote in the presidential election.

[Kennah]

15. OK, now I'm really perplexed and off on a tangent

I knew they elected a Delegate, who gets very limited and almost non-existent representation in Congress, and no Senators, and I thought by extension they didn't vote in Presidential races.

I've learned my new fact of the day.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. I think their Congress rep can't vote on bills in Congress

But I've never heard they couldn't vote for president.

[Kennah]

17. You and Recovered Repug are correct. I was wrong.

23rd Amendment ratified in 1961 took effect for the 1964 Presidential election.

D.C. and the U.S. territories get a Congressional Delegate, but they don't get to vote on bills. Taxation without representation is alive and well.

[Rex]

10. Yes and they don't own DC, they just live there.

How long did it take before they got the right to vote? I'm talking about the owners of DC...NKs Moons and Communist China.

[Marblehead]

3. I think I heard

him say he is on Armed Forces Radio which is excellent. this has nothing to do with your subject but anyway, did anyone hear that?

[alp227]

25. googled that, he's on the Power Talk channel a bipartisan network

http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/RadioStation.aspx?c=15

if only talk stations could be formatted like that in ordinary citizen land. that station has talkers from both sides of the political aisle: on the left Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, and Schultz; on the right Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck.

[Marblehead]

28. Hartmann and Hannity

going head to head is a good thing, anyone with half a brain could tell hannity is full of it, or not.

[RebelOne]

5. No progressive stations here in North Georgia.

Only Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Neal Boortz and that black Republican ((somebody Caine) who is going to run for president. No choices here in this state if you are a Democrat.

[alp227]

12. Not near Atlanta?

Atlanta has Green 1640 for liberal talk, and 1640 broadcasts Hartmann on a 3-hour delay, and that black Republican is Herman Cain. (Recent Young Turks segment about Cain)

[Ahpook]

6. I don't live in DC anymore

but my brother does. He listens to http://www.wpfw.org/ But he did say they are starting to not sound "quite right" whatever that means?

After looking over their schedule it seems decent enough.

[alp227]

13. oh i didn't notice that, but Pacifica Radio/Democracy Now are sensible n/t

[bananas]

21. There was a battle several years ago to turn it into all-jazz

There's always been a struggle over the Pacifica Radio stations,
trying to turn them into NPR and PBS,
they even kicked Democracy Now off the network at one point,
and they had a rule that staff couldn't discuss it on air,
trying to keep listeners in the dark about it.

[Dappleganger]

7. We have one, but they move often.

It's like playing musical chairs with radio stations. The guy who runs it is passionate, but quite honestly unless you have deep pockets (which he doesn't) it's nearly impossible to compete when someone like Clear Channel decides to buy your airwaves. They begin with Bill Press, then go on to Stephanie Miller, then Thom and on to local talk radio. Andy Johnson is more like a liberal independent than a democrat (as opposed to FL democrats, a good thing) and is good with local callers. In the evening it's a hodge-podge of various things including Spanish-language programs--no consistency.

[alp227]

22. WHJX Jacksonville? I once used that station's website to stream Hartmann

when the thomhartmann.com audio stream wasn't working. that was before i knew that my local station (KKGN) had Hartmann and that Ustream.tv had it commercial-free with bonus calls and "On the News" segments.

That station used to be WJSJ 105.3 but is now WHJX 105.7. 105.3 seems to be the FM simulcast of a sports station.

[Dappleganger]

23. Yes, that's it.

It's surprising that one survives in this area but it's like an oasis in the desert, ya know?

[alp227]

24. and the Congress district of Jacksonville has been red since 1989

FL-4's current rep, Ander Crenshaw, was first elected in 2000. Its residents also went 61% for McCain in 2008. But still it's amazing how Jacksonville's progressive station could survive when DC's shriveled up.

[FreakinDJ]

8. Nor Sacramento either

[AndyTiedye]

18. Can You Pick Up KPFA (Berkeley) or KFCF (Fresno)?

The reich wing rules the airwaves, but the Pacifica stations are some of the rare exceptions.

[Mutley]

14. Yep, NPR and CSPAN radio is the closest you can hope to get around here.

I've always been shocked that there were no true liberal radio stations in the Baltimore/DC area. Luckily, I don't have to spend as much time in the car as I used to. :(

[Puregonzo1188]

19. There is a Pacifica station WPFW which does jazz music and progressive talk.

Though it's mostly Jazz--they do play Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio news as well as some local programing that can be less than stellar at times.

(edit I said WBAI which is the New York Pacifica station)

[bananas]

20. Pacifica Radio WPFW still has Democracy Now and other shows

There was a battle several years ago to turn it into an all-jazz station.

[madinmaryland]

26. Amazing, isn't it. Maryland had one for several years, until Danny-boy Snyder

of Washington Deadskin infamy bought the station. I have no idea what the station is now, as it got deleted from my presets. There is and may still be a station that carries Randi Rhodes, but she just annoys the shit out of me.

So I listen to WAMU. At least their news is bland, but informational. I do enjoy the Diane Rheam and the Kojo Nnamdi shows on during the day. An interesting and eclectic brand of talk shows.

[hootinholler]

29. Diane keeps me informed of what the AEI is thinking.

I really wish she would make an effort to have liberal voices on her show, the best we seem to get for balance is libertarian.

Kojo is good, but I still miss Derek, but he's doing well on the TV news.

-Hoot

[LaPera]

27. That explains why the beltway media & politicians are so out of touch and uninformed

with the rest of the country.

[hootinholler]

30. WHFS??? WOW

I didn't know they still existed on the AM band. The FM HFS was the bomb playing alternative rock that you'd never hear anywhere else. Sadly it was sold about 10 years ago.

-Hoot

[Stinky The Clown]

31. When I get on my rooftop and howl at the moon, that's the closest we get to lefty radio