Did anyone at KKZN ask Boulder if we wanted to be ÔprogressiveÕ talk?

Air America, a national liberal radio network featuring comedian turned political commentator Al Franken, has dubbed its Colorado broadcast on Clear Channel˜s KKZN-AM Boulder˜s Progressive Talk.

How nice. As if we need more branding.

Especially since this is a Denver-based radio station airing New York-based liberal talk show hosts into our airwaves. Not a single KKZN radio person that we can tell has yet arrived in Boulder, although as we˜re reporting, the station is planning to share some space with FM station KBCO on Pearl Street.

I admit to seldom dialing in talk radio, but it˜s becoming so pervasive it˜s nearly impossible to avoid on any channel — radio or TV. I˜m on an editor˜s panel on Channel 8˜s Boulder Show — where local people discuss local issues. Nonetheless, it˜s talk. There I am. Guilty.

While catching a traffic report or sports update, I˜ve suffered through Rush Limbaugh several times. I don˜t have much warmer feelings for what Air America touts as Limbaugh˜s worst nightmare: Liberals with a license to broadcast.

For the last week, I tuned in to see what it was all about. What I heard had absolutely not one thing — not even a zilch — to do with Boulder. The "Morning Sedition" has yet another comedian, Mark Maron, and Mark Riley broadcasting from New York. I˜m pretty sure neither one could tell you much about Boulder short of the football scandal.

You will hear ranting and raving about the war in Iraq, the presidential election and, well É that˜s pretty much it for the most part as far as I can tell.

I do like that Air America doesn˜t hide its agenda. It wants to be like the Bizarro character in Superman — the extreme opposite of Fox News, Sean Hannity and Bill O˜Reilly.

The more I listened, the more I sensed how similar these "right" and "left" news broadcasts are. Both were gleeful about Dan Rather˜s 60 Minutes report on President Bush˜s National Guard service based on what turned out to be fake documents. Nothing better for radio jocks than a veteran TV newsman screwing up — and a pretty big one at that.

In Limbaugh-Franken land, there˜s no room for middle ground. Independent thinkers are not invited. And in a presidential election year, politics are especially ripe for ugly accusations from both sides. One minute it˜s the anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the next it˜s secret memos about Bush˜s service record.

I get most of my news from Boulder and Denver newspapers, but I also watch CNN at night because I˜m seldom home in time for the evening broadcasts of the major networks. But I˜ also switch over to Fox. It˜s tough, although not impossible, to inject politics into hurricane reports, and I˜ve been glued to seeing news reporters standing sideways in 70 mph winds.

I started watching Fox a little more after reading Al Franken˜s "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them." Was Fox really as bad as he claimed? What I determined, and my GOP-voting dad is just one example, is basic. If you˜re a staunch Republican, you gobble up Fox. It you˜re a Democrat, it probably makes you sick. Simple.

Another striking similarity I˜ve heard on both Air America and conservative shows like Limbaugh is their absolute joy at alleging bias in national media like the New York Times or The Washington Post. What they don˜t say is if it wasn˜t for the reporting staffs of these papers, as well as hundreds more like them around the country, these news wire reading radio jocks really wouldn˜t have much to talk about now would they?

Which brings me back to my first point.

If Air America wants to be Boulder˜s progressive talk around here — not, I˜m sure, in the other 29 cities where it˜s also broadcasting — it might want to air an actual Boulder issue or two. I˜m on the edge of my seat waiting to see where they stand on prairie dogs.

A mortgage show host on KKZN laughed a bit as he said, "Now we are Boulder˜s progressive talk. Does that mean anyone in Denver is listening?" A woman radio sidekick chimed in. "Of course they are listening in Denver. In fact, we even had a caller from Cheyenne, Wyoming!"

Early reports across the country show Air America, which moved onto commercial stations this spring from only satellite radio broadcasts, is capturing an audience, particularly in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic. The Los Angeles Times reported it˜s also drawing listeners to its streamed broadcasts off its Web page.

Soon enough the ratings will begin to tell the story. And advertisers will listen.

Whether "Boulder talk" Ð real or not — will sell in Denver (or Cheyenne) is yet to be seen.

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