In this month’s cover feature, I interview four talk radio hosts about their work — Nick Ferrari, Ken Livingstone, Jon Gaunt and George Galloway. Talk radio is one of those media opportunities that is becoming increasingly important for politicians. Ratings are high and rising, and it’s listened to people who have no general interest in the ins and outs of Westminster politics, i.e. most people in Britain. I wanted to find out what political stories made good talk radio and how the hosts viewed their craft. They don’t like the BBC, that’s for sure. They may all be men, but right-wingers don’t have it all their way on talk radio as Livingstone and Galloway’s presence, on LBC and Talksport respectively, shows.

David Prever is an experienced talkshow host who has presented on BBC London, LBC and Talksport. I had a quick chat with him to supplement the piece. He believes there is a bit of snobbery around it and he certainly doesn’t like the term shock jock — sorry for the cover David — as he explains below:

What's wrong with calling someone a shock jock?

The term is perjorative, which is pity; imported from the US, when broadcasters like Howard Stern started to push back the regulation boundaries.

In print journalism, you don't hear about shock-columnists. A commentator with a strong view is revered as an opinion-former, held in relative high etseem and invited onto political panel shows and news programmes.

Yet British speech radio presenters aren't treated with same respect. Even though articulating an opinion on a three-hour radio show is, I would argue, a refined skill.

Plus, behind a live mic you don't enjoy the luxury of carefully considered written words. There's no chance to cut and paste or delete.

Is regulation wrong?

British radio still battles with a heritage of BBC imparitality; the medium is put on a pedestal, and the idea of a presenter with strong views is seen as downmarket or corrupted in some way. It's not just British. It's 'shocking'. This is a shame.

Talk or speech radio is one of the few forums where genuine live, freeform debate can take place.

What do UK talkshow hosts contribute to coverage of British politics?

They play a very big part, though you wouldn't know it. Compare the circulation of The Guardian, 308,000, with the number of listeners to Talksport's late show, 450,000. You can split hairs over how numbers are interpreted, readership versus circulation and listener hours etc., but the point is that the few talkshows we do have deliver decent sized audiences when stacked up against print media. Yet most print journalists will see themselves as far more influential.

The answer to all of this is more talk radio. But whether a new national talk station would work commercially in the current climate, is a difficult question.