September 13, 2006
Air America Bankrupt - Financially and Otherwise [Updated]
Gotta like the contradiction in the headline from liberal Think Progress.
Here's how their liberal commenters responded to the news:
● Progressives get their news from reading blogs and other online sources. ...Let the radio format go the way of the Dodo… let’s concentrate on more and better online media.
● R.I.P., Air America. If it had been a right-wing network, this administration would have secretly funneled millions of dollars into it.
● This country needs to have a place for people too smart to listen to the right wing noise machine. those who will dance in the streets and cheer the demise (premature) of Air America only show that they are not in favor of a free country where everyone has a right to speak and also to hear their kind of politics.
● What a shame…I’m sure this is Bush’s fault too.
● That proves that the neo-cons are still back in the dark ages of radio …and all other things….the Progressive and “Green People” are downloading and Ipoding. We are the future!
Wow! They're better than conservatives, free speech means someone else should pay their bills, and Bush is to blame.
And, do you want to know how these people who are so compassionate and worried about working families are treating the employees that they laid off? They gave them NO SEVERANCE PAY! I bet Al Franken got his paycheck, though.
To think that these people want to run our country.
As this news gets out and the story develops, we find more information, which includes a claim by Al Franken that his checks are behind, too. When you read about the lies and mismanagement of the group, you have to wonder about Franken's sanity in supporting them--if he's being honest, which is a rarity.
However, I think that the comment by one of their primary investors speaks volumes:
Norman Wain, a Cleveland-based former radio executive and investor in Air America, says he hadn't heard about any financial difficulties. "I know nothing about it," he says. "They don't communicate with investors very well. They only come to us when they're looking for more money."
Now, that does make them sound like Democrats and how they think of taxpayers--an endless source of money to fund useless programs.
09/14/06 - For Current Updates:
The Radio Equalizer with Brian Maloney follows this matter with current and in-depth information, if you have continued interest. He speculates that this announcement was leaked prematurely or falsely as part of insider politics. He also reports this: "Oddly enough, all network spokesperson Jamie Horn could do when finally allowed to address the by-then out-of-control story was to infer that conservatives were to blame for it."
Naturally.
Posted by Woody M. at September 13, 2006 03:20 PM | TrackBack"EXCLUSIVE: Air America To Declare Bankruptcy, But Progressive Radio Remains Strong"
Is this the equivalent of "Fake but accurate"?
Posted by Vulgorilla at September 13, 2006 08:17 PM
Sorry to rain on your sour little parade, but Franken got stiffed by Air America. I find it very sad. The man was a gifted comedian (see Saturday Night Live or Lateline), author (Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Idiot or Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them) and actor (again, SNL and Lateline, where he wrote and acter) but let his political views ruin his career. The sheer glee the folks on this blog express whenever something bad happens to a Leftie is sad. In a world so full of shades of gray, you guys are so entrenched in a balck and white, us vs. them bulls**t existence that nothing will ever get solved.
Posted by Bishopdic at September 13, 2006 09:40 PM
I knew Air America was in trouble. WLW radio in Cincinnati is one of the top stations in the country and it's all talk radio. All their talk show hosts are local and they at times mentioned how Air America was suffering.
A couple of months ago the Cincinnati Air America switched from 1530 AM which had a strong signal that could be easily heard 100 miles or more outside of Cincinnate to 1360 AM. 1360's signal can barely be heard 25-30 miles outside Cincinnati.
It was clearly a business decision by Clear Channel which owns both stations. The all sports talk format originally on 1360 was drawing more listeners than Air America on 1530. Yep, sports beat Air America in Cincinnati. Of course, if you listen to Rhandi Rhodes one day it takes your ears a week to recover.
Posted by DADvocate at September 13, 2006 10:03 PM
I'm beginning to see the outline of a strategy in the main posts of this weblog. It's a send-up, isn't it? Addictive humour designed to drive reasoning people into penury by laughing themselves silly.
Well, I'm not falling for it. So there.
Posted by Jassalasca Jape at September 14, 2006 12:25 AM
I hate it when I have to look up words that I don't use to understand what a commenter meant, and then I still don't entirely get it. Well, my research shows that "send-up" means to "make a lot of fun of" and "penury" means "extreme poverty or scarcity," which I should have figured from my high school Latin.
Well, conservatives feel like the straight man on a comedic team--sort of like Mr. Douglas in "Green Acres," which is probably unknown to the left. Liberals take the set-up and say something funny as though they mean it (and they do), and we just stand in disbelief while the audience laughs. We don't make the humor. We just pass it along.
Posted by Woody at September 14, 2006 06:47 AM
"Well, conservatives feel like the straight man on a comedic team--sort of like Mr. Douglas in "Green Acres," "
Well put.
I notice that in their feeble excuses for their leftwork going belly up (including the bit about how if they'd been conservative, LOL, the gubmint would've funneled them millions of dollars), their commentators forget to mention that in the tradition of businesses in the U.S. marketplace, when you don't put out a popular product you tend to go out of business.
Oh, wait! Socialists don't think like the rest of us...
Posted by Seth at September 14, 2006 02:10 PM
Seth, we probably spoiled the left with PBS and NPR, which do represent government funded liberal broadcasting. As in anything they're given, they always want more.
Posted by Woody at September 14, 2006 02:35 PM
Bishopdic, my contention is that it is the left which engages in black-white thinking, contrary to the conventional wisdom. Try to find an assessment on the left which gives any suggestion that we are gaining even a crumb or two from Bush's foreign policy. Schadenfreude is indeed unattractive, but you may overestimate the glee. We plead guilty to "I told you so," but not the "sheer glee when anything bad happens to a leftie." I acknowledge that you can find it on the rightwing blogosphere, but not so much as you'd think. To find it here (read several other recent posts) is an overinterpretation.
Posted by Assistant Village Idiot at September 14, 2006 05:06 PM
Woody --
In an ongoing email debate with a liberal uncle, I think I got him mad with my last entry, because he hasn't replied:
He cited Republicans threatening to reduce funding for NPR and "the Arts" awhile back, and I pointed out to him that since NPR is a liberal entity that uninterested conservatives' taxes have to partially fund, it constitutes "taxation without representation", and that I see noplace where "the Arts" in any way protect and defend the Constitution, defend us against all enemies, foreign and domestic or represent Americans in dealings with other countries.
It probably offended his sensibilities big time, especially the bit about "the Arts", which I believe should be funded by private citizens, just as I think NPR should fund itself via donations from interested private orgs, firms and individuals.
Posted by Seth at September 14, 2006 05:17 PM
I like the arts, but I don't like bad art, such as the art funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. "Piss Christ" is a good example. If the art is good, it doesn't need government funding. Same with radio.
Posted by Woody at September 15, 2006 06:37 AM
"...and actor (again, SNL and Lateline, where he wrote and acter) but let his political views ruin his career."
There's the clue bat right there! Now hit yourself with it again and again until you get it.
Posted by Oyster at September 15, 2006 07:38 AM
The "gubmint" funds right wing radio?
I gotta call Karl and ask him where our money is then, huh?
Posted by Kender at September 17, 2006 10:49 AM
