Written Analyses

Put Upon a Pedestal

It is believed that we as a society create our own heroes. We create them to fill a void or need in our own lives. We place individuals that are very gifted and talented up on a pedestal and to act as role models, only to be disappointed when they fall.

Talk radio is no different when it comes to creating heroes or making celebrities. Shock jock Howard Stern has become almost like a god to some of his loyal fans over the years. He is the self proclaimed “King of all Media”. Mr. Stern has certainly created ripples in the talk radio realm with his on air stunts. He also has amassed a huge listening audience over the years. Why is Howard Stern so attractive to people, not physically, but his ability to gain popularity among the masses?

I’ll admit I have tuned to his program unable to turn the dial to listen to something less offensive. Howard Stern is the exception to the theory of society creating heroes, I think he created himself. Maybe that’s what makes him so attractive to his listeners that he goes against the social norms. He is not afraid to go against social norms for entertainment value.

Stern fans could get there few seconds of fame be recording themselves calling into news programs during some serious topic or catastrophic event going on somewhere in America. The fan would pose one or two serious question or report some bogus information only to say, “bababooey” and hang up the phone. It’s as if the fan would get some kind of acceptance from Howard Stern for playing the prank and they would become a celebrity themselves.

On the news/talk radio side you have the likes of Rush Limbaugh, who has been labeled the “voice of conservatives”. You also have Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck who have been placed on pedestals by conservatives for their daily ranting and ravings about what’s right or wrong with this country. Sometimes I feel like conservatives take everything that comes out of these radio hosts mouths as gospel. I have to give Glenn Beck credit for challenging his audience to not take what he says or others as absolute truth, but encourage his listeners to research answers out for themselves.

Do we create heroes and celebrities as a society to feel better about ourselves? We may never reach the pedestal that we place athletes, entertainers and talk radio hosts on ourselves, so we idolize these people as a way to fill a void in our own lives.