Thank you for introducing the world to the magnificent Rachel Maddow and acting as a political launching pad for Al Franken who might one day grow into a valuable senator. It's just too bad that what started out as a clever, aggressive reaction to Bush/Cheney and the right-wing lie-mongers in radio and Congress never took root, financially or otherwise. Air America's programming and scheduling always seemed to me to be hastily thrown together with no design, no thought-out strategy. Most of the shows made for tedious listening, and a so-called star host like Randi Rhodes was permitted to waste hours of airtime ranting and repeating herself. If you wanted to listen to Rhodes at all, you quickly learned to turn her off after, say, 15 to 20 minutes, because the rest of the show would be a pointless regurgitation.
Here are two reports on the demise of Air America:
Media Decoder: Air America to Cease Broadcasting Immediately
by Brian Stelter, The New York Times, January 21, 2010
Farewell, Air America, when we need it most
by Ron Reagan, Salon, January 24, 2010
Liberal Radio, Even Without Air America
by Brian Stelter, The New York Times, January 24, 2010
Back in the late '80s, I did time at Pacifica Radio's WBAI with what was then the Women's Radio Collective and the Gay and Lesbian Independent Broadcasters, as well as producing some specials on my own. Broadcasting was totally new to me and--after listening to a women's news program--I'd been drawn into it on a spunky impulse that, for a basically shy person, was a form of courage. This new challenge stimulated my creativity, and I brought to it a typical Virgo's preference and competence for organization, much appreciated by the station's engineers.
But WBAI was a roiling mess--and still is, if Michael Powell's hilariously snarky report on a meeting of the station's board is to be believed. And, having seen that place from the inside--I sat in a staff workshop on diversity where a fistfight broke out right in front of me--I do believe.
99.5 FM, Where the Board Meetings Make the Broadcasts Seem Tame
by Michael Powell, The New York Times, January 15, 2010
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