A reality check for Air America

[DBear]

This is news to anybody?

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/col/...p-166266c.html

Liberal radio is airing bad jokes and worst taste

by Michael Goodwin
March 12, 2004

The United States "is on the slippery slope to theocratic fascism." "The Catholic Church has been secretly encouraging oral sex for years." Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld "ought to be tortured." President Bush should be taken out and shot. Those are a few nutso nuggets from the hosts of Air America Radio, which calls itself the new liberal voice. The fledgling network is carried in New York on WLIB, 1190 AM. With the Iraq torture scandal everywhere, I tuned in, expecting to hear sober policy analysis mixed with glee over President Bush's political pickle. Instead, I got 10 hours of rancid venom directed at the President, Rumsfeld, Rush Limbaugh, the Catholic Church and anyone else the hosts felt like slamming. If you're a card-carrying lib who likes crude sex jokes and a cartoonish echo chamber, Air America is for you. Take one host's linking the talk of "pulling out" the troops with the claim that "that's what the Catholic Church says about premarital sex." Ha, ha. The signing of comedian and best-selling author Al Franken gave Air America a liberal drawing card. But if his three-hour show on Monday was typical, he could sink the ship instead of saving it. Two attempts at humor were offensive. In his "oy, oy show," set to Israeli music, a sidekick reads news reports - in this case, the murder of the Russian-backed president of Chechnya. Franken's role is to pipe up with a lighthearted "oy, oy, oy." Yep, nothing tickles the ribs like assassination. Franken also imitated a priest giving Communion, saying "Body of Christ" when an imagined pedophile priest was in line but "not for you" when pro-choice politicians came up. The church was a day-long obsession, as was Limbaugh. He is an "awful man," "a pig" and "a Nazi." Color me confused. If Franken & Co. hate the pill-popping Limbaugh so much, why imitate his tarpit tone? Sounds like Limbaugh has simply driven them nuts. Missing was the tension that comes from honest debate. Only Franken had guests voicing even slight distance from the party line, which is that John Kerry is perfect except he should attack Bush more. The queen of venom, Randi Rhodes, followed Franken in the host slot. Her imitation of a cracker military type telling a soldier to "insert this fluorescent light bulb into that man's buttocks" was revolting. She compared U.S. prisons in Iraq to the "Nazi gulag" and said, "The day I say thank you to Rumsfeld is the same day I'll say thank you to the 12 people who raped me." Rock bottom came when she compared Bush and his family to the Corleones in the "Godfather" saga. "Like Fredo, somebody ought to take him out fishing and phuw," she said, imitating the sound of gunfire. During a day of torture by radio, I heard ads for Hewlett-Packard, Greyhound and, especially, General Motors. I asked GM why it appeared in such shows. Ryndee Carney, GM's manager of marketing communications, said the ads were wrongly picked up from an earlier deal with WLIB. She said the station was ordered to "cease and desist" yesterday, and added: "GM will not advertise on any Air America affiliates."

So it shouldn't be any surprise that this follows:

[quote]
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Liberal Talk Show Shuts LA, Chicago Sales Offices
Wed May 12, 2004 09:21 PM ET

By Sue Zeidler
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Air America has shut its sales offices in Los Angeles and Chicago and is recasting its business plan, the network's president said on Wednesday as troubles beset the liberal talk show network.

With Air America not broadcasting in those two cities after a financial dispute in April, network president Jon Sinton said, "There's not much sense in having sales offices in cities where you don't control a station."

About 15 to 20 people were laid off in the closing of the sales offices, the latest sign of problems for Air America, launched on March 31 as a liberal alternative to the country's predominantly conservative talk show culture led by right-wing icons like Rush Limbaugh.

Since it started, Chairman Evan Cohen, Vice Chairman Rex Sorensen and Head of Programing David Logan have left while co-founder Mark Walsh has stepped down as chief executive to take a smaller role in the organization.

Sinton said the company had moved away from its original business model, which was to lease and totally control the radio stations in which its programing ran.

Rather, Sinton said Air America has found success with traditional affiliate relationships, under which it provides about 20 hours of programing per day in many cases in exchange for the ability to sell a certain number of minutes per hour of advertising.

"The business model has changed with our on-air success. The fact that we are moving the needle so quickly with affiliates has surprised us and negated the need for us to control our own stations," Sinton said.

After its launch, a dispute with business partner Multicultural Radio Broadcasting led to its programing being yanked from the air in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Air America, which is said to have more than $30 million in financing, is operating in about nine markets, and on satellite radio and the Internet. Its Web site said that 15 more stations will be coming in May.

"We're always looking for new financing, but the investors we have are committed and we would we like to raise more money," said Sinton, who said that certain people on the board with long-term radio experience have recently taken over key decision-making roles in a departure from the past.

Serious errors in business judgment account for Air America's problems, rather than its slate of programing, say various radio industry insiders.

"It makes you wonder why everybody is leaving the company," said Michael Harrison, editor for Talkers, a magazine about Talk Shows.

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http://www.reuters.com/printerFriend...toryID=5125267

[Timber Loftis]

I think Air America is an object lesson in the party differences. Republicans/conservatives feed off mantra and dogmatic repitition of litanies regarding The Way The World Is. It is powerful enough to convince them of anything -- Limbaugh said it, it must be so. [img]graemlins/noevil.gif[/img]

The same is untrue of liberals, who want some actual discourse and fresh ideas. While this leads to talkiness and a wishy-washiness that we all like to scorn liberals for, it is their very nature. That said, a mirror image of conservative talk shows, the Liberal's Limbaugh if you will, probably won't work to draw liberals in.

To go back to the church metaphors, the conservatives like politics like the Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary's (repeat this litany 45 times and it will be so), whereas liberals like a get-together discussion of ontology with a priest, a rabbi, and an aetheist. If you think about it, these vastly different tastes for how they like their politics packaged is actually inherent in the notion of "conservative" and "liberal" -- mantras soothe the soul that fears change, and varied discourse fuels the soul that wants change.

My 2 cents.

[Timber Loftis]

Of course, there's also the point that one should never undertake a business venture named after a crappy Disney movie. [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]

[Thoran]

I see Conservatives and Liberals as exactly the same when it comes to discourse: they both think it's just great... as long as what you have to say what they want to hear.

The way they handle dissent is different though, the Conservatives throw out some irrelevant bible quote and switch off your microphone... the liberals just start screaming so loud and continuously that you can't get a word in edgewise unless you drop down to their foolish level. Come to think of it... conservatives do that sometimes too... but the liberals are better at it.

The Conservatives blinders point towards the past... when everything was just wonderful... if only we could go back. Back in the day we all went to church on sunday, ate our steak and potatoes, lived the happy simple life, our kids respected us, everyone was polite, and all was right with the world.

The liberals blinders point towards the bottom of the hole they've got their head buried in, becuse in order to think that leftist socialist policies have any chance of improving society indicates a severe detachment from reality.

Ok... they BOTH have their heads stuck in holes... but at least they're pointed in opposite directions.

Dave K
A Radical Moderate

Oh yea... "Air Bud" or whatever the liberal radio show is... was doomed to failure from the start. Their top act (the comedian) is an idiot, which doesn't in and of itself doom the program (look at Rush), but more ominously, the normal operating method for radio is that the radio stations pay for the programming, not the other way around (which is the case for Air America).

[ 05-14-2004, 08:13 AM: Message edited by: Thoran ]

[Khazadman Risen]

The same is untrue of liberals, who want some actual discourse and fresh ideas???

If the libs are such supporters of discourse then why do they always try to stop conservative voices from being heard? Just look at what goes on at any university in this country. And they damn sure do not have any new ideas! They are pushing the same agenda they've been pushing for the last 40 years. Punish the successful and reward those who let government control their lives.

[Timber Loftis]

Well, that wasn't true for my liberal arts college. All ideas were welcome -- most of the time.

As for that agenda, let's remember who the last president to balance the budget was, and who the last president to responsibly reform welfare was. Believe me, if you sat for a day in a child support courtroom and saw all the "Baby-Mommas" complaining about having to work 2 days a week to keep Clinton's welfare reforms from taking their handout, you might see this differently.

[Rokenn]

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: Of course, there's also the point that one should never undertake a business venture named after a crappy Disney movie. [img]graemlins/heee.gif[/img]

Actually the network is named after the CIA's old airline, Air America. Not a Disney movie.