Austin Lewis Staff Writer

Radio still remains as an important source for news and entertainment throughout the United States. While most Americans have substituted listening to the radio at home with watching television or using the internet, radio remains a powerful source for news and entertainment because it’s listened to as people drive.

The amount of time people spend listening to radio on their daily commutes and while running errands, it has a strong effect on their views and opinions.

A study from Ohio State University showed that repetition plays a large role on the thought process, particularly in argument scrutiny. This means that as information is heard repeatedly, it becomes more widely accepted as fact for the people who are hearing it.

This affect on the brain due to repetition gives radio stations a powerful role; they’re able to sway people towards decisions through what they broadcast. While this allows news stations to broadcast what they deem as important news and their opinion on it, this effect is even more prominent through the radio stations that broadcast music.

There are over 100 radio stations in Washington that focus on music broadcasting, and thousands more throughout the U.S. However, even though there are over 100 stations, they mainly focus on two styles; Country music and the “Top 40,” a list of the 40 songs currently listed at the top of the music chart.

This is where the effect of repetition is the most prominent. These radio stations consistently play the same songs or ones that are similar to each other. This begins to affect the listener’s argument scrutiny, making it easier for them to listen these songs repeatedly and accept them as being well made and individual even though they may be similar to all the other songs being played on the station.

While this may not be seen as a problem on a small scale, it’s important to look at the effects of this repetition on society as a whole. As larger radio stations play these songs in repetition across the nation, it begins to affect society as a whole.
This further affects people because of what’s mainly talked about in songs: values. These songs can change and ultimately control what people value.