WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A trend in talk radio may have started Monday in Grand Rapids, Mich., with left vs. right programming at two stations with the same owner.
WOOD-AM and WTKG-AM are both owned by Clear Channel and typically feature right-of-center programming.
Program Director Phil Tower said the liberal Thom Hartman show is now going up against conservative titan Rush Limbaugh for the first time on two Clear Channel-owned stations in the same media market.
"If we're starting a national trend here in Grand Rapids, I'm proud it started here," Tower said.
The debate over the ideological content of talk radio in the United States has repeatedly spilled over into the political arena. Once the almost exclusive province of conservative programming, activists allied with the Democratic Party have been working to start their own radio network and help left-of-center programs find a home on the airwaves.
Clear Channel, which is one of the largest radio station companies in the United States, has been a favorite whipping boy for politicians and liberal activists who have accused it of bending over backwards to support the war in Iraq.
