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Chris Salcedo of Newsmax is one such broadcaster who has had a laser-like focus on the recent American economic decline and what could be around the corner.
As Americans experience economic pain to the levels not seen in 40 years, some in the media expect things to get worse.
Substantially worse. And needlessly so.
Chris Salcedo of Newsmax is one such broadcaster who has had a laser-like focus on the recent American economic decline and what could be around the corner. On Friday, he welcomed economist Stephen Moore onto his evening program to discuss the implications of current government policy and where the Democrat administration may be leading the nation.
Salcedo led off by highlighting the national budget proposal from the Biden Administration, which hits an eye-popping $5.8 Trillion and benefits “America’s enemies, Joe Biden’s pals over in communist China.”
“When you talk about the rise and decline of great empires, you’re exactly right in terms of tracking what happened,” Moore, the author of Trumponomics, said. “But another factor has been out-of-control government and out-of-control debt. It has also led to the demise of great empires as well. We’d better watch out.”
Moore noted that when he first came to Washington in 1985, the budget was $1 Trillion. It’s now nearly six times that.
The national debt was around $1 Trillion.
It’s now 30 times that.
And these are bipartisan problems, Moore believes, created by both sides and exacerbated greatly in the past couple years.
“Nobody seems to bat an eye. Nobody in Congress, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats, seem to want to do anything about it,” Moore pointed out. “If you’re wondering why we have 8.5% inflation today, it’s very simple. We’ve spent $3 Trillion that we didn’t have, borrowed it, and spent it. It’s not Putin. It’s not Trump. It’s not temporary. It’s not transitory. This is a result of out-of-control government.”
Moore followed up by referring back to his 2020 prediction that if Biden were to win the election, the two biggest winners would be Russia and China.
“I didn’t agree with everything Trump did. I worked for him. Some things I agreed with, some things I didn’t,” Moore, the co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, said. “I always believed that everything he did was oriented toward putting America first. This president, from the very start, from his first executive order of stopping the pipelines, then declaring war on American energy. Now, if you declare war on American energy and reduce our energy output, gee, what countries do you think benefit from that?”
“Mr. Moore, economists are telling me that Biden has so mismanaged the economy that the Fed is going to have no choice but to throw our country into recession to try to cool this massive inflationary spiral, this Democrat inflation. Is that your read?” Salcedo asked his guest.
“First of all, we have to first recognize we have a problem,” Moore continued, echoing thoughts from his latest 2021 book, Govzilla: How the Relentless Growth of Government Is Devouring Our Economy—And Our Freedom. “Joe Biden keeps blaming, have you noticed this, he keeps blaming it on Putin. 80% of the inflation we’ve had since Trump left office and Biden took over was before Putin went into Ukraine.”
Moore then chronicled recent history – when Trump left office, the inflation rate stood at 1.5%. Today, 14 months later, the inflation rate has exploded to 8.5%, with American families feeling the economic hardship that comes along with it. Pain at the grocery store checkout counter. Pain at the pump.
“How do you screw things up that quickly?” Moore asked Salcedo. “No, I don’t think it’s intentional, but it certainly has sabotaged our economy. I’m just aghast at how much our country has faltered. Now I lived through the 1970’s, when we had the last episode of runaway inflation, and that did lead to a crash landing of our economy. I still think there is time to skate around a recession, but the longer we wait, the more this inflation metastasizes, the more painful it will be to get it out. We should be cutting government spending across the board by about 10 or 15 percent right now. We should be increasing our energy supply, and yes, the Fed has to start sucking some of that money out of the economy by raising rates.”
Both Moore and Salcedo view the current state of affairs as a government-created problem.
Only time will tell if the government will enact its prescription for healing and a return to prosperity.
Rick Schultz is a former Sports Director for WFUV Radio at Fordham University. He has coached and mentored hundreds of Sports Broadcasting students at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, Marist College and privately. His media career experiences include working for the Hudson Valley Renegades, Army Sports at West Point, The Norwich Navigators, 1340/1390 ESPN Radio in Poughkeepsie, NY, Time Warner Cable TV, Scorephone NY, Metro Networks, NBC Sports, ABC Sports, Cumulus Media, Pamal Broadcasting and WATR. He has also authored a number of books including “A Renegade Championship Summer” and “Untold Tales From The Bush Leagues”. To get in touch, find him on Twitter @RickSchultzNY.
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BNM’s Pete Mundo writes that the midterm elections allow for News/Talk to put the spotlight on plenty of local races going on across the country.
The crown jewel for the News Talk format has often been considered Presidential election years for obvious reasons. The entire country is captivated by a Presidential race. It has turned into a sporting event.
While some may be persuadable either way, most people have their teams, and the fall of a Presidential election year is like a 12-round heavy-weight boxing match. There are twists and turns, good rounds and bad rounds, all leading up to Election Day.
And while the format undoubtedly will have the most attention on itself during these years, there’s something to be said for a Midterm cycle being even more fascinating for local news talk.
During presidential years, that race overshadows everything else happening. If we use the music radio comparison, “playing the hits” is the name of the game, and while you may have the most-compelling Senate, House, or county commission race your region has seen in years, it’s all second fiddle to the Presidential race.
Granted, as we have learned over the last two-and-a-half years, often who runs our state legislature, county commission, and school board can play a much bigger role in our day-to-day lives and freedoms, but it doesn’t matter. People become infatuated with the executive branch, and it’s our job to give them what they want when they want it.
However, with all that being said, the midterm cycle doesn’t have the Presidential race overshadowing it. Therefore it allows News Talk to shine, as the bigger, local races become the headline stories.
Folks in Missouri are caring deeply about their U.S. Senate primary coming up on Tuesday, August 2nd, but they don’t generally care about the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race. Pennsylvanians aren’t all that concerned or interested in the Georgia U.S. Senate race. And that’s how Georgians feel about the Arizona race. And on and on we go.
It’s local. It’s engaging. And it allows the format to stand out.
During Presidential cycles, you can tune into any News Talk show in America, and depending on what segment you happen to stumble upon; it will be more difficult to decipher whether you’re listening to a local or national show.
However, during a midterm year, differentiating local vs. national should be much easier.
And while we’re looking at Midterm cycles, the News Talk audience is super engaged during a cycle when the right-of-center audience is extra motivated to gain back power, which is exactly the cycle we find ourselves in right now.
The Democrats have the Presidency, the House, and the Senate. And as midterms generally tend to go, the party in power ends up losing to some degree.
The last time Republicans had a cycle like this was 2010. Barack Obama was in his first term with majorities in both chambers of Congress. That led to the Tea Party movement and a massive 2010 red wave.
While it remains to be seen what 2022 is going to bring (although it’s also looking like a wave election year), this is the kind of cycle News Talkers have typically only enjoyed once every 10-15 years.
1994 was the wave against President Clinton. Then the aforementioned 2010. And now we’re looking at similar trends in 2022.
How is your station taking advantage? How are you branding what your local hosts are doing around syndicated dayparts? Will the audience, regardless of their tune in time, know your station is the place to be as we hit the home stretch of what many in the audience believe will be a very promising year?
All these questions should be asked as we move through the summer, out of primary season, and into the fall general elections. Midterms are more local and more fun. So take advantage and ride the wave because we might not get another one like this for 10-15 years.
Human journalists bring us the news and information; they are not and should not pass judgment on the behavior or alleged actions of others.
I believe in comebacks, second chances, and the opportunity to ‘take another shot when it is deserved.’ I also believe in justice and correction, especially when the actions of one or some cast injury or disparity on those who are part of a group like a nationality or profession.
I guess being a face on television, a voice on the radio, or a name on a byline creates a vulnerability the deli owner, the accountant, or the IT tech may not be familiar with. Not every profession or livelihood is immediately threatened or even complicated by a brush with the law, a civil action of one kind or another, or an unseemly accusation.
So, when a public or well-known figure in the field of media, news, or journalism stumbles and faces an often very public dismissal, suspension, or fall from grace, my thoughts and impressions take a pause. I mean, they’re delayed; I really do everything I can to place them on the back burner. And yes, some instances are easier than others.
Show me a news anchor busted for a DUI, or a radio reporter caught soliciting a prostitute off the clock, and I’m not necessarily inclined to call for blood. A sportswriter involved in a drunken barfight who gets hauled off to jail?
Making allowances for specifics and/or extenuating circumstances, I don’t see much of an immediate conflict of interest with the high callings of the fourth estate. (By the way, I have longed to work that term into something in print for much of my life, so if you read nothing else, leaf through that, please.)
Credibility in the profession, in my eyes anyway, is not necessarily lost in these cases. These people are usually humans; they make mistakes, have losses in judgment, and they screw up. Let’s, of course, leave room for the severity of the acts here; we are not without common sense. It’s not, or at least it should not be, a career killer. Violators should be prosecuted, investigations conducted, and sentences or fines imposed. And in the workplace, job modifications, temporary suspensions, or the like should be considered.
Building the soapbox as high as possible to make a point here, I go back to the term; credibility. Human journalists bring us the news and information; they are not and should not pass judgment on the behavior or alleged actions of others. I don’t discount a performer’s talent or ability because of things they have done or an athlete’s prowess due to something off the court or the field.
And if you see the hypocrisy in that, simply take a look at your favorite sports and look at what dog killer, assaultive individual, domestic abuser, weapons violator, etc., is playing a game while somebody who knelt at the wrong time is not. Who has been canceled or shunned lately and why?
Or, at least, was it premature?
There’s a lot there already to mull over, and I haven’t even reached a salient point yet.
As I alluded to earlier, I root for those challenged. I like the underdog in most scenarios, and I grew up a Mets fan. If I had lived back in those days, I likely would have cheered for the Boston Braves or the Washington Senators.
In this business, I have been a firsthand witness to major mistakes on and off the job. Public ones, embarrassing and humiliating errors committed by imperfect people who were and are good at their jobs. I’ve seen people fired and exiled when the wrong thing was said or done when the mic was hot, and the camera live.
Most were, and as objectionable and offensive as some also turned out to be, they seldom warranted what came next. Knee-jerk responses by networks or station managers who simply feared a potential public rebuke, a flood of angry audience correspondence with threats to turn to the competition, or those just were too lazy or spineless to stand by their people.
Many with more and less experience than I had seen as much and worse and have gone home that day disheartened and disillusioned after learning what bosses were capable of and what little it seemed they really mattered when it came down to reality.
There are bouncebacks on occasion; Talented people brought down by their own slipups who met up with the perfect combination of open doors and far-sighted administrators who recognized what others had cast aside.
One comes to mind, and it particularly makes me smile when I encounter this person on the public airwaves because they are the poster child for what occasionally goes right with the world. Some time ago, they and a couple of others got caught up in a succession of poor choices, bad timing, and technological failure.
A heavy price was paid.
That restores faith, especially since this particular individual and I never really, shall we say, got along.
That makes it that much nicer.
And again, there were no issues of integrity or trustworthiness in question. This is a person who did nothing other than tell the stories, report the news and give people the information they wanted.
There was no backbiting, no calling out of others. No claims of being something they were not. Never once was there a declaration of righteousness or position above others.
There was never an attempt to justify their own actions by hiding behind self-made obstacles like family first or pleas for sympathy and petitions that they were wronged.
Also, there were no egotistical rants or weakly attempted overtures inferring a forthcoming triumphant return against all odds.
No tries at spinning their departure like a mythical David and Goliath tale from which they would soon return a victor. Nope, nothing like that at all.
They just came back because it is right that they did.
But not all cases, not all stories are the same, and very few are equal. So, for 6 million or 6 dollars, no, not even 1 million or 1 dollar; I think this business and whatever questionable role he may have played in it was better off when Chris Cuomo was just not around.
Van Horn believed program directors in radio saw his ability to improvise when he did the weather, and he always tried to answer a question directly.
Memphis, Tennessee, is both a large city and Mayberry on steroids.
“It seems everybody knows everyone in Memphis,’ said Tim Van Horn.
“We’ve got more than 600,000 people living here, but you always bump into someone you know or who knows you. Whether it’s out to dinner or at a soccer match.”
Van Horn said a while back he went to a Trump rally in north Mississippi, the American Freedom Tour.
“I started talking to a 100-year-old WWII veteran. It turns out his son was my first soccer coach, who is in his 60s or 70s now. Here we are at a Trump rally, and he remembers me. He was my older brother’s coach as well. That’s what is so great about living down here. Maybe that’s why I feel so proud and happy to be here. I was born here and will probably die here. All my family and friends live in the area, so I’m emotionally invested.”
Van Horn said Memphis really is the city of Kings. You had Elvis Presley, the ‘King of Rock and Roll,’ and Jerry’ The King’ Lawler, of wrestling fame.
It’s not easy to think of Memphis and not think of Elvis.
“He was a man of God,” Van Horn said.
Unbeknownst to a lot of people, Elvis Presley’s gospel grounding was as strong as his roots in country and blues. He was cutting spiritual tunes as early as 1957, and he’d been singing gospel songs since boyhood.
“Elvis is a good-old southern boy from Tupelo, Mississippi,” Van Horn said. “I think it’s sad how he faded away. I don’t know if it was genetics or pain tolerance, but once he got caught up in prescription drugs, it all went downhill. He loved the ladies and boy could he belt out a tune.”
Van Horn hosts “Wake Up Memphis” weekdays on KWAM from 6:00 to 9:00 AM. He has over 25 years of radio experience and more than 15 years of television experience as a meteorologist.
“On our show, we put a lot of sweat equity into what we do,” Van Horn said. “We have a lot of national programming. We do a lot to flip the mix. Eighty percent is going to be local discussions. National topic. Impact us in the city. People want to know what’s going on.
He said it’s one thing to complain about something, another to bring in a guest who has lived what the show is talking about. He said an example would be booking guests from the restaurant association during the Covid lockdown.
“Some merchants lost everything,” Van Horn said. “Just because an unelected government body insisted that customers wear a mask. We’re not a rip and read newsroom.”
Van Horn said he works hard not to be the focus or star of the show.
“I want to get people to tell their story. If I am the star, that would be a problem. The guest is the king.” (Great, another king in Memphis.)
Van Horn said he points the guest in the right direction to help shape the show.
“Part of what I do is to push back and challenge a guest, not just sit there and nod my head at whatever they say. When people come on my show, I let them know I’m not going to toe the line for them. They also know I won’t ambush them.”
He asks real questions, regardless of political ideology.
Van Horn was a meteorologist for quite a while. “For 15 years,” he said. “I miss the people in television, not the industry.”
He explained a lot of the information has become digital. He could see where personality and individualism on-air wasn’t as important as it once was.
“They could hire a recent college graduate for a lot less money than I’d be making. There wouldn’t be a place for me. I was a bigger number on the Excel spreadsheet.”
“I remember how exciting it was to cover severe weather, get the adrenaline going,” Van Horn said. “You need someone with experience and trust to tell you where the tornado is going, where the hail is striking when the public is in danger. You can save money on salary and move to digital, but merely going to school for a meteorology degree won’t fill those needs.”
Van Horn also loved going out into the community and talking to kids in school. He said he always got the same questions, but that didn’t matter. The kids were genuinely interested in what he had to say.
“The weathermen did that when I was a kid. It was something to pass down to the next generation. Doing the severe weather coverage built up a good deal of equity.”
On the flip-side, he hated judging science fairs. “You could only make three kids happy; the rest didn’t like you,” Van Horn jokes.
Van Horn figured there must be somewhere he could better utilize his presentation skills. He does miss the chance to inform people about the weather. There are other things he misses.
“I can take three minutes to answer a question I could have answered in three seconds,” Van Horn jokes.” I’m humble enough to know I can be a windbag. In talk radio, I have fewer restraints than I did on television.”
He believes there is a sense of loyalty to a radio personality. “I think people tune in to hear what I have to say on a topic. They come back to see if I’m consistent. I don’t side with people like Trump every time or a politician every time. Sometimes I’m zigging when a party line might be zagging.”
Van Horn said the state of things are generally black and white regarding the political landscape. He points out he’s nobody’s patsy.
“Much to the dismay of our local party,” he said. “I’ve called them out. I think they’re taking the conservative base for granted. I sleep better at night, knowing I was true to myself and my beliefs. I don’t pretend that everything is okay.”
Van Horn said veteran media personality Todd Starnes taught him a great lesson. ‘You must always be honest, Starnes said, rather than try to be friends with politicians.’
As his career progressed, Van Horn believed program directors in radio saw his ability to improvise when he did the weather, and he always tried to answer a question directly. He explained you always had to be ready for a joke when bantering with anchors.
“I always try to be an active listener. I used to look at the story rundown before the weather see what they might throw at me. I didn’t want to appear like an unplugged or aloof guy. I always hated it when they presented a murder story before they tossed it to weather.”
If you’re looking for something to do in Memphis, just ask Van Horn.
“If anyone comes down here, they have to go to Memphis Zoo. It’s a great place to watch, one of the top zoos in the country. We’ve got pandas and kangaroos.”
He used to watch the television show Emergency when he was a kid.
“I remember the actor Robert Fuller, who played Dr. Brackett on Emergency,” Van Horn recalled. “He was big in westerns.” He also liked Barney Miller.
“It was a great cast with Hal Linden, Abe Vigoda, Max Gail.”
Van Horn’s parents were supportive of his work in the media.
“My father was an HVAC installer,” Van Horn said. “He worked for Sears and would go around town in his blue van.” But it was his mother that ruled the roost. “She put the fear of God into me,” Van Horn said. “When it came down to it, she’d be very calm and told me I could go outside and pick the switch. Usually, my mom dolled out the punishment, but my dad was known to do it as well.”
If it was good enough for Adrian Peterson, it was good enough for the Van Horn clan.
Jim Cryns writes features for Barrett News Media. He has spent time in radio as a reporter for WTMJ, and has also served as an author and former writer for the Milwaukee Brewers. To touch base or pick up a copy of his book: On Story Parkway: Remembering Milwaukee County Stadium, available on Amazon, email jimcryns3_zhd@indeedemail.com.
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