Is talk radio "journalism"?

In general, the answer to this question is "no."
Journalism requires a commitment to principles: finding out the truth, fairness, verifying facts, looking out for the interests of readers/listeners instead of advertisers etc.

Genereally, none of these are present in talk radio. This doesn't mean that there aren't issues of importance discussed. Often there are. But talk radio is an entertainment format. There is no presumption that the hosts, producers or call screeners are trying to follow journalistic principles.


As we discussed in our analysis of the article Host, the job of a talk radio host, or program for that matter, is to be stimulating to get ratings. Being fair, never mind following principles of journalism, doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it.

All of the examples we listened to confirmed this belief for me. "The Whiner Line", while succeeding at being entertaining and discussing some sports issues of the day, is not trying to be journalism. Car Talk contains a lot of good advice (despite their self-depreciating shtick) but makes no particular effort to to stick to facts or be fair. The clip from 1100AM The Flag discussed serious issues, but similarly wasn't journalism.

The Levin and Savage programs weren't even good talk radio. Levin didn't ever let the caller make his point, he was too busy speechifying. And Savage was doing his usual demagoguery, saying "if America should survive" the rest of Obama's term, and saying we will be at war with China in the next 10 years.

Journalism plays an important role in the proper functioning of a democracy. Which isn't to say journalism can only tackle issues of high importance in society; there is a role and a need for sports, entertainment, etc coverage also.Talk radio, at it's best, can help people discuss and learn about all sort of issues that people care about. But journalism it isn't. A possible exception would be public radio programs like Talk of the Nation, which is staffed by journalists, who have a commitment to those principles.