Democracy for Vancouver

10 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

1. I agree completely with your review.

   Ed Schulz, according to Ed Schulz, is not part of Air America. He was VERY critical of the organization a few weeks ago. He stated that the people at Air America are fixated on getting Democrats elected rather than building a profitable business. IMO, Ed Schulz is not a true progressive by any stretch of the imagination.

   I heard a while back that Franken was being paid $1 mil annual salary. That will go a long way towards depleting a start-up company’s treasury.

   For the management to fire Malloy and hire Springer is rather disturbing and indicates to me the organization may have lost its way.

   The commercials on Air America shows indicate they are not attracting much in terms of big corporate sponsorship.

   In a culture that supports infotainment over the real news, is it a surprise that Air America is struggling? In an environment where the biggest companies in the world are the owners of the air waves, is it a surprise that big advertisers would be very hesitant to purchase airtime from an entity that wants to bust up the oligopoly that controls the airwaves? You don’t “bite the hand that feeds you”.

   As The New York Times reported at the time, when Donahue’s MSNBC show, Donahue, was cancelled, he was actually attracting more viewers than any other show on MSNBC. I don’t know what is actually going on within Air America and its relationships with the corporate oligopoly, but it would not be surprising to me if Air America’s troubles are more a result of the conscious or unconsious actions of its corporate masters than of the actions of its internal management.

   Air America should not have to depend on the very organizations that it is criticizing to fund its ongoing existence. This is the problem with overconcentration of media ownership in combination with an ineffective FCC.

   Air America’s troubles reflect how America itself has lost its way.

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   1. Above written by bushtool on October 14th, 2006 at 12:45 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

2. Which is another great reason to support KBOO in their Fall pledge drive. i really love KBOO and support them when I can.
   They offer the best news and local coverage and political commentary of any station for hundreds of mile around. Plus, loads and loads of swell music.

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   2. Above written by Rich on October 14th, 2006 at 12:52 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

3. Franken’s pacing for radio is just too sloooooowwwwww. If I want a political entertainment radio show, Stephanie Miller and even Rick Emerson (who’s generally non-political) on AM 970 are far more humorous then anyone on 620. Emerson in particular is the kind of locally produced content that I look forward to every week day. He’s a real throw back to the days when radio had people who knew how to use their voice to great effect.

   Hartmann is fantastic, I hope that he survives the troubles that Air America is experiencing. I find that the Randi Rhodes schtick gets old after a while, that she keeps harping on the same stuff. It would be good if she mixed her show up by actually interviewing people rather than the endless monologue on the same issue.

   KBOO seems to have lost the plot. KBOO always meant a strong music program coupled with diverse public affairs programming. The music is what pulled you in, and the public affairs programming was the icing on the cake. KBOO was the only outlet in Portland that was close to being a college radio station musically, in a town without strong college radio (other than the anemically powered KPSU). Nowadays, the music programming has slots devoted to smooth jazz and other dreck. I had heard that they had a recent contributor who basically dictated this decision. I know that community owned radio always have budget troubles, but their programming decisions leave me listening to them less and less.

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   3. Above written by Aneurin on October 14th, 2006 at 2:25 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

4. btw, reorganizations usually just mean the debt gets restructured and/or reduced and the company continues unscathed.

   Creditors understand that they will normally get paid back more if they are flexible, than if they push too hard and the company ceases operations.

   I’d recommend that Franken go pursue his senatorial ambitions, rehire Malloy, fire Springer and get an aggressive, hungry sales staff to get more national advertising accounts.

   Being that I grew up 22 miles from NYC, I’ve met lots of Randi Rhodes type personalities. I think she would know how to make the changes necessary to help Air America fly. I’d recommend that she replace Franken as the “speaker of the house”.

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   4. Above written by bushtool on October 14th, 2006 at 3:17 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

5. [quote post="151"]Nowadays, the music programming has slots devoted to smooth jazz and other dreck. I had heard that they had a recent contributor who basically dictated this decision. [/quote]
   Yes, they did some foolish mainstreaming of programming, most notably scrapping a wonderful Saturday afternoon Jazz lineup (outside, free type jazz, not the Kenny G type of crap they have on KMHD) in favor of The Grateful Dead.UGH!
   And there’s a running debate about long-tenured programmers not allowing fresh talent in. I like some of the older programmers (Daniel Flessas, Kathy Fors, Richard Francis, Eugene Rachad, etc..) but agree that it makes it difficult to develop new talent. Some tenured programmers seem to mentor programmers and let them sub on their shows.
   The coolest shows in my book are the ones on the off-hours. Their daytime music programming has always been rather lackluster in the 20-plus years I’ve been listening.
   But where else are you going to hear Helen Caldicott, Noam Chomsky, Studs Turkel, etc. on the radio?
   Air America?
   there’s also a shakeup going down at KBOO, wherein it appears that the charter is being changed to allow less transparency for the board to make programming decisions behind closed doors. Many people voted on it without realising that it was buried in the wording. I think there’s a drive to recall the ballots.

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   5. Above written by Rich on October 14th, 2006 at 3:48 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

6. Rich,

   I could not find much in your review with which I could agree. Al Franken has done a great job of covering issues and–for the most part–in an entertaining manner. Randi Rhodes is a very astute analyst which makes it so disappointing that she is so excessively shrill, regularly dragging herself down to the level of the worst of her conservative/righty counterparts. Malloy also seemed very intelligent but in terms of style he was a complete embarrassment, IMHO.

   Thom Hartmann’s morning show is arguably KPOJ’s greatest asset because its a locally based and oriented show. Hartmann is very well studied on U.S. history and most of the time speaks very well which is important in setting an example to listeners with respect to engagement in discourse. He is especially thoughtful about encouraging the broadest possible range of opinions on his show–he has even said that callers who disagree are more likely to get put at the front of the line. Like Franken he has put together a great lineup of regular guests. His greatest weakness, his lack of experience as a resident of the Pacific NW, is covered handily by his co-host, Heidi Tauber. Hartmann also has a national show which was picked up by AirAmerica Radio and is now broadcast on KPOJ during the timeslot that was vacated by Mike Malloy. Hartmann’s AAR show even competes with Al Franken in a few markets as the two shows air during the same time slot.

   As with The Ed Schultz Show Thom’s local show has nothing to do whatsoever with AirAmerica Radio network. Both shows are carried by the local AirAmerica affiliate. Such is the case of many of its affiliates with respect to the former. The first time I heard Ed Schultz voice on the radio I wondered to my self “what the f**k is Rush Limbaugh doing on a progressive talk station?” I think that he is the best in the business bar none. He is as good as or better than anyone in the business at framing the issues. His show does not screen calls (as affirmed by a recent survey of conservative and progressive talk show hosts). Yes, he is bombastic and at times can be quick to temper. Schultz’s show is so important because of the audience he seems to draw. I hear a lot of callers on his show who are Bush apologists and a lot who profess to be ex-Bushistas. Ed Shultz’s appeal to the working class is helping to bring a blue tint to red state America. The suggestions that he is not a true progressive because he defends Lieberman or criticises AAR for not being profitable are ludicrous. Schultz is not in the business to make a truckload of money but he recognizes that commercial talk radio is a business and as such has to be profitable in order to not only assure his own show’s viability but also to encourage radio station owners and advertisers to support the progressive talk format. Schultz has been successful by any metric and is owed a debt of gratitide from progressives.

   The problem with AirAmerica Radio was its one-size-fits-all programming. For all of the conservative talk radio there is not a single talk network similar to AAR but a bunch of competing syndication companies that pitch their programming to stations across the country. There are going to be markets where some if not much of AAR’s programming will not be well received. Their best show, Morning Sedition, aired too early in the morning for West Coast audiences before it was cancelled last year. I thought this was the smartest show they had and looked forward to listening to encore broadcasts on Saturday mornings. It just was not a realistic business plan. I appreciated the expediency of getting AAR programming in as many markets as possible in time for the 2004 elections and that was important but as you pointed out the lineup was far from ideal and true progressive programming would be more locally driven anyway. I knew AAR were in trouble when they launched their “Associates” program. That had to be a first–listener supported commercial radio. That they were searching so high and low for other revenue streams showed their desperation.

   While I have enjoyed much of their programming I am less concerned whether AAR remains intact in its current incarnation than I am about the continued penetration of progressives in talk radio. Ed Schultz’s syndication company, Jones Radio Network, has announced its search for its next progressive talker and is inviting people nationwide to audition via its local affiliates. Knowing that it is safe to say that the progressive voice on the radio should continue to grow with or without AAR.

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   6. Above written by FOIA Gras on October 15th, 2006 at 11:15 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

7. I’ve emailed Ed Schultz back and forth about disagreeing with his personal opinions so strongly that I have to turn him off sometimes.

   He certainly appeals to many people but so does Limbaugh and others. His ratings are a good measure of his popularity but not a good measure of his “progressive-ness”.

   He’s as “middle of the road” as you can get and that nowadays is equivalent to representing Republican views of the ’50s and ’60s.

   Ed should drop the pretense that his show is progressive and admit that he is somewhere halfway between Malloy and Limbaugh.

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   7. Above written by admin on October 16th, 2006 at 11:59 am (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

8. More discussion from another place at the same time…:

   Anonymous said…

   “1-800-Hi-David this is the David Brenner show. we are waiting for your call. I’m still waiting. This is David Brenner. On the radio. The phones are open. All of them. We have lines open. Won’t you call theDavid Brenner show?
   A Jew and an Arab walk into a bar. This is the David Brenner show. Lines are open…”

   Chardman said…

   I actually listened to that trainwreck.
   I listened to lots and lots of AM radio in the mid-nineties. I’m not sure why. I remember Tom Leykis‘ metamorphosis from fascinating talk radio to the swarthy, sweaty man-pig that he is today.
   “Women are WHORES!!, and how even ugly, Clint Howard-esque guys like me can get laid.”

   arturo said…

   Agree about Ed Shultz. Wow. That guy pisses me off. You can tell what a neanderthal he really is if you gag your way through any discussion he has that even remotely touches on female sexuality or if he talks about gay issues. His promo spots are really transparent. Ed is definatley struggling with trying to overcome probable past (present) sexism and homophobia.

   Thom Hartmann…tend to agree with nearly all of his positions, but Man-o-man is he a narcissist. Oh, and he is perfect too! “I want to talk about the first amendment…which reminds me did I ever tell you about the time I led a revolution in South America when I stopped there to found an ADD school in Cuzco, where I met the pope and wrote: “Mega Problems with modified Corn Syrup” a lecture I presented to the National Foundation for Pediatric Bariatrics….?”

   Randi Rhodes. Check. Best of the show.

   I gave up listening to Garofolo. She was Waaaayyyy too shrill. She also seemed to be developmentally arrested at the state of college student. Not that that is bad, but once you hit your 40s it wears a little thin.

   We all have pretty different opinions about the radio personalities.
   I know that people I tend to like in radio probably don’t stand much of a chance ratings-wise.
   I think Schultz success is he taps the same kind of male righteous indignation that Rush is so good at capturing.
   I guess like KBOO - who also get slagged for not being all things to all people - It’s certainly better than much else out there. NPR?
   hah!

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   8. Above written by Rich on October 16th, 2006 at 12:15 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

9. Just got back from listening to Schultz on the road. He stated “we’ll never get Universal Health Care but now we know that if we drink red wine we won’t get a stroke”. It’s these kind of snippets that make me use the mute button quite often in the car.

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   9. Above written by bushtool on October 16th, 2006 at 12:58 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).

10. fyi :arrow:

    Smith on Ed Schultz Show Today

    Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09) will appear on the Ed Schultz Show at 2:30 p.m. PST to discuss the latest news on the Iraq war.

    You can hear the show on AM or satellite radio.

    The Ed Schultz Show airs at the following times:
    • AM Radio: Portland’s KPOJ 620 AM at 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. PST.
    • Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 146 at 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. PST.
    • XM Satellite Radio Channel 152 at 1 p.m. PST to 4 p.m. PST. Please note that this broadcast begins one hour after AM and Sirius radio broadcasts.

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    10. Above written by admin on October 16th, 2006 at 2:05 pm (replies, if any, are attributed separately above).