Another sign the tide is turning

[dflprincess]

This might mean a bit more to Minnesotans as they'll know the radio station and anchor I'm talking about. So I'll start with some explanations:

WCCO 830 AM Local mainstream radio station the "Good Neighbor". If you're under 30 (maybe 40) you only listen to 'CCO to get the school closings in the winter or pick up the Twins game in the summer if you can't get to a TV. Some talk - no real bent either left or right. As closed to balanced as talk radio gets.

Don Shelby - 6pm and 10pm anchor on WCCO TV news. Been around for 20 years or more. Local icon. Also has a afternoon drive time radio show on WCCO AM.

So, I'm driving home from work tonight and flip over to WCCO (this is how I know I'm getting older). I came into a middle of an interview Shelby is having with Sheldon Rampton, one of the coauthors of "Weapons of Mass Deception". They're talking about PNAC and old Don is taking all of this very seriously. It sounds like he's been doing his own reading. Rampton mentions how the same crowd is involved in a couple other think tanks. So, Shelby says, "So if a reporter is trying to check his facts about something he heard about something the administration said, he goes to any or all of these groups for a response, he's really interviewing the same people." Rampton agrees.

Shelby goes on and says, "Everyone dances around the word lie, but really if the administration puts out the same misleading statement over and over, they really are lying aren't they?" Rampton agrees again. Then he and Shelby start going over some of the misinformation that's been repeated beginning with the Gulf War and going up today. Babies being tossed out of incubators, WMD and Iraq's alleged ties to AlQeda.

THEN Shelby brings up how, one of the big things with this war was the comments about Sadaam gassing the Kurds, but not much was said about this during the Gulf War and he asks, "Is this because Sadaam was using weapons sold to him by the Reagan and Bush administrations during the 1980's and we were too close to that in 1991, but by now, most people have forgotton?" Rampton agreed.

Every question I heard Shelby ask was really set up to support the book.

I didn't hear them take many calls but the few they did, pretty much backed up what was being said by Rampton.

Given some of the shows I heard Shelby do immediately before and at the beginning of the war, I figured Don to be a Republican (he still may be). But the slant on his interview today certainly is a good sign.

[Cocoa]

1. that's very good news

stations like that are extremely influential. It sounds like WGN in Chicago, I'll have to tune and see what the vibe there is these days.

[corarose]

2. Some of the callers are people who work at the studios or friends

How do I know this?

Well, let me tell you I was a caller when my old boyfriends band was being interviewed when they were on tour with Ozzy and they had me call the band members up and they had me ask them a question that was already written down.

I felt like a jerk but I did it anyways.

[zekeson]

3. Sounds very promising

wish we got that down Austin-Rochester way. Could use some good news liek that on a day when Timmy and Normie are reported to be Georgie's Minnesota Co-Campaign queens. Their whore resumes are getting pretty complete for such young sluts.

[gully]

4. I love Don Shelby...

and was surprised to learn he's a Dem or at the very least an independent. He mentioned he was a Wellstone voter. I learned that when he spoke about Paul shortly after his death.

But, I've always really liked him, he is an excellent broadcaster. Good for Don Shelby!

[dflprincess]

7. I'm glad to hear that

I always liked him too and was disappointed when I began to suspect he might be a Republican. Sometimes it's feels good to be wrong.

[SaveElmer]

5. Grew up listenin to 'CCO

I grew up in Minnesota listen to WCCO...the Cannon Mess, Boone and Erickson, some really great radio people. Don't know really how it is now, but if you wanted to know about life in Minnesota all you had to do was listen to WCCO for a few days and you would know.

Glad to hear they haven't gone to the darkside at least !!

[janekat]

6. On Larry King, Iraq show - almost every caller was anti-bush....

This was actually about 2 weeks ago. King had a show about Iraq and almost every caller was totally p.o.'d, bitching about how Bush had lied. I think there was only 1 caller who was on the Bush side.

[Shanty Oilish]

8. AHHH..that feels goooood...a little more to the Left....ahhhhhh

:) Thank you!

[dodger501]

9. To me, Shelby is the best Twin Cities anchor

and I'll tell you why. Every time a complaint is brought against the media to the state media council, Shelby is always there to give his side. I saw it once during the Northwest Airlines so-called "expose" that was visually slanted to put NWA in a bad light. Shelby stepped up and took the rap for it, even though he was neither the reporter nor the producer.

Another time was a complaint about the lack of coverage of women's sports, college and pro mainly. Don Shelby and Mark Rosen were there to listen and answer and they did a fair amount of both. There were others there, but it's a point that Shelby did not have to be there but he put himself out as a spokesman for the local media.

Unlike Paul Magers, who only gets by on looks alone, Shelby gets in the trenches actually digging out the stories.