Air America Took Money From Poor Kids & Alzheimer Patients

Radio Equalizer and Michelle Malkin have followed a scandal in New York that, given the involvement of the nationally-broadcast Air America, should have received national media attention by now. It turns out that the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Clubs almost had to shut its doors following a funding shortfall despite receiving a half-million dollars in grant money and much more in city contracts, getting rescued at the last moment by other independent groups. The $500K in grant money had been loaned out — to Air America:

The nonprofit Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club and its affiliate Pathways for Youth found their city contracts, running into the millions of dollars, abruptly ended last month by the city Department of Investigation. …
He said he and other elected officials are still in the dark over the exact nature of the probe.
In its initial announcement, the DOI said it was probing allegations that program officials “approved significant inappropriate transactions and falsified documents that were submitted to various city agencies.”
According to published reports, the allegations involve Charles Rosen, the founder of Gloria Wise who has stepped down as executive director, investing city contract funds in Air America Radio, the liberal talk radio network.
Evan Cohen, Air America’s former chairman, had served as Gloria Wise’s director of development.

Evan Cohen appears to have sold Gloria Wise a bill of goods in its investment in Air America. First, given AA’s performance, anyone putting that kind of money into it and expecting to even see the principal ever again has to be out of their minds. Second, the grant money involved was earmarked for Alzheimer’s patients, senior citizens, and a mentoring program. Even if AA sounded like a brilliant investment, earmarked grant money has to go to the specific programs it intends to fund, not a flyer on some hot stock tip.
Evan Cohen’s involvement on the board of Gloria Wise and his position at AA makes this decision a massive conflict of interest. Cohen had struggled to maintain his position with the netlet after it became clear that the enterprise had not captured much audience even in the more liberal areas it served. Advertising revenues remained very weak and the corporation barely eked out an existence on donations, making it a poor (and badly-behaved) cousin to NPR. If Cohen used his position on the board at Gloria Wise to misdirect government funds, then AA needs to cough up the money immediately, and any ties Cohen has to other non-profits should be thoroughly investigated.
Has Air America paid back the loan, or even made preliminary payments? We don’t know; AA hasn’t issued a statement, and more curiously, the national media hasn’t asked them. The only papers covering this story are the New York Daily News (but not in its national paper) and the Gotham Gazette, a local newspaper for New Yorkers covering the borough beat. It seems to me that if Salem Radio or Clear Channel had taken money from poor children and Alzheimer’s patients to stay on the air, we would hear about that from all major media outlets within nanoseconds of it coming out.
So why haven’t we heard about this scandal from the Exempt Media?

CQ On The Air Today

I’m on the air right now, talking with Kevin McCullough about Eason’s Fables. If you miss my interview, you can pick it up on Kevin’s stream, as it will replay several times over the next 24 hours. Kevin is one of the few people in the media that really understands the blogosphere and what it means for information dissemination, plus he’s just a great guy and a fun interviewer.
Be sure to check it out!

The Captain Sails Into San Diego

For CQ readers in Southern California, you get a sneak peek (or soundbite) of Captain Ed ahead of tomorrow’s Northern Alliance launch of its live Internet stream tonight at 6:30 PM. I have been asked to appear on Stacy Taylor’s radio program on KOGO. Stacy wants to talk about bloggers, the Democratic convention, and John Kerry’s acceptance speech.
This call surprised me somewhat — I haven’t met Stacy Taylor or spoken with him before, and I’m not sure where they found me. I’m happy they did, and I hope San Diego gets its money’s worth from my segment. If you get a chance to listen, drop a comment on this post and let me know what you thought of it.
UPDATE: It was fun, and Stacy was a gracious host to both myself and TalkLeft’s Jeralynn Merritt, who talked over both of us. I’d have been more combative, but frankly, I’m too tired to start sniping at people. Jeralynn certainly had an interesting point of view, but it would have been nice if she had let me finish answering the questions I was asked before disagreeing.

Err America Ratings Explained

A major buzz-kill for fans of schadenFranken.

As you know, I’ve had a fair bit of fun poking the Air America bear from time to time, as the entire notion of launching a liberal radio network to combat the supposedly oppressive conservative media bias seems like such an idiotic notion that its cluelessness alone deserves a crushing defeat. At the outset, though, we all assumed that Err America (as I like to call it) would survive at least through the November election as it allowed people like George Soros to sink tons of money into broadcasting anti-Republican statements while avoiding the McCain-Feingold limitations on political advertising.
Sooner than anyone imagined, however, we have seen major players at the netlet bail out, including its major (public) investor and most of its executives. Leather Penguin added to the fun by giving us a peek at Err America’s ratings in New York City — where we discovered that they hadn’t moved the needle a bit from WLIB’s prior programming. Jon at QandO warns us to be careful in interpreting these numbers, throwing a bit of cold water on the schadenFranken that we’d all been feeling:

[A] few points:
1: Technically, these are not what is commonly called “Arbitrons”. They are “Arbitrends” – i.e., monthly trend updates. Arbitron compiles the latest (unweighted) monthly diary results and shows each Arbitron subscriber the 3-month trend.
It’s hard to judge the trend, though, based on the numbers LeatherPenguin presents. We really have no idea what the latest month looked like, or what the dropped month looked like. For example, they may be trending up sharply, but if they dropped a very good month, it would show little/no change. …
3: Even so, this Arbitrend does not represent an Air America trend. Bear in mind, they didn’t launch until March 31st. The Arbitrend in question is February/March/April – only the last month (which we cannot see) consists of Air America programming.

Jon has more analysis, which you should read in its entirety, even if it is a major buzz-kill, dude.
Addendum: Make sure you follow the link on Leather Penguin’s post to the Al Franken forum — Randi Rhodes, the only professional radio host they have, apparently announced her resignation on Friday. The debate starts off with speculation about it being a joke, but then rapidly segues into a discussion about behind-the-scenes bickering about the various personalities at Err America (like Franken) that you don’t want to miss. Skip the second page of the forum, though, as it’s consumed by trolls.

Paid To Hate: The Err America Experience

Err AmericaGod bless Air America, for its bounty apparently is endless. The Star Tribune’s Deborah Caulfield Rybak reviews the “bumpy start” that has plagued the netlet’s first few months … if you can call getting kicked off the air in two of the three largest markets, the mass exodus of executives, and failing to meet payroll simply a “bumpy start”.
Bumps like that usually indicate … a crash, don’t they?
However, the on-air talent at Err America keep their spirits up, because despite the devastating reviews from even other liberals, they believe the shows’ quality has improved:

Because, at least outside the revolving doors of the executive suites, the mood — and news — is good. Personalities for the various shows are beginning to emerge and the amateurish technical glitches are beginning to subside.
“People need to separate the business stuff from the on-air success,” said Tom Taylor, editor of the industry newsletter Inside Radio. “I think they’re doing a Herculean job.”

Yes, well, it’s typically leftist to hate the business side of anything, but unfortunately quality doesn’t guarantee success; you could ask Preston Tucker about that, if he was still around. Even if their creative output may be in question by everyone who’s reviewed it, it would still not matter, for Air America is a cause, not a job:

Among the 100 or so staffers, the mood remains defiant and the mission clear. “When they pay you to hate this [Bush] administration and to expose the lies, it’s the best job in the world,” said Lizz Winstead, the former Minnesotan who has taken over as programming chief in addition to her five-day-a-week show.

What a lucky break for Winstead — she gets to sell hate five days a week, and fortunately for her, it’s a seller’s market! More perspective on life from Winstead:

“I don’t try to squeeze in friends or a drink or a dinner party these days,” she said. “I’ve kind of made the commitment that getting rid of George Bush is more important than having a social life.”

An on life at Air America, host Al Franken has this to say:

Although Franken says most of the staff is shielded from executive-suite shakeups, “every once in a while I get called in and told, “This manager has left or this one is coming in, and I go ‘Oh, OK.’ But mainly we’re just trying to get the show on. That’s really what it’s about.”

Bear in mind that they’ve only been on the air two months. “Every once in a while” has meant almost every week for the past month. (Check out the Radio category in this blog for more.) Business investors have noticed the lack of business acumen so far in this enterprise, as Rybak reports:

“The negative news doesn’t make it any more attractive for a station to break its format and sign on in any long-term basis with Air America,” said John Rash, director of broadcast negotiations for Minneapolis-based Campbell Mithun ad agency.
Michael Harrison, editor of the talk radio magazine Talkers, was more blunt:
“The impression one gets from this whole thing is that it’s really more of a political campaign with contributers than it is a radio business with investors. That’s been the thing that’s made it seem so shaky to those inside the business. It doesn’t follow the pattern of a business; it’s more of a political movement. And radio is not a political machine. Radio is a medium.”

However, as the Elder at Fraters Libertas points out, the news is not all bad. Here in the Twin Cities, the struggling netlet has landed a more permanent home. They’ve purchased yet another small station, this time through Minnesota Production Network, that the Catholic radio network Starboard Media wanted to dump for its move to the higher-wattage WMNN.

Air America Shuts Some Doors

Err America logoIn more bad news followed by some first-class spin, Air America announced today that it will close sales offices in Los Angeles and Chicago and will “recast” its plan, all of which follows a month that has seen the network booted off the air in the two cities and a number of executives and investors leave or get fired:

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.

However, when asked, the remaining few people still left at the netlet assure the public and their listeners that in reality, they have been fabulously successful. Sinton insists that they’ve been “moving the needle” with affiliates, which not so coincidentally is significant both in radio and in polygraph tests. The fact that they went off the air in the second and third largest markets in the US — and closing their sales offices in both markets indicates a lack of optimism for getting back on the air in either case — has no bearing on their “success”.
Michael Harrison of the trade magazine Talkers wonders why they tried to force broadcasters to take on the entire 17-hour slate of shows, but thinks liberal talk radio is still a great concept. I’m sure NPR agrees. The problem is that listeners don’t, at least not with the Err America approach, which could be called All The Laughs of NPR, but Without The Class or Intelligence!
UPDATE: Mitch picks up the scent of a scam from one of my readers … just more Err America success!

More Problems at Err America

The gang at Air America just can’t catch a break. First they lose access to the radio signal in the #2 and #3 markets, having to ask a judge to force the radio station to air their program — and that only lasts until Friday. Now comes word that one of their founders has packed it up, decided that he doesn’t care for the daily grind, and another executive has been “replaced” … at least according to the FrankenNet spinners:

In the latest development in what has become a chaotic inaugural month, Air America Radio is losing two of its top executives, including the network’s co-founder.
Mark Walsh, the former AOL executive and Democratic National Committee operative who announced the network’s launch to much fanfare five months ago, said Monday that he has stepped down as chief executive officer.
Separately, the network confirmed that Dave Logan, Air America’s vice president for operations and programming, has been replaced.

Walsh may not be leaving permanently; he’s agreed to stay on as a “senior advisor”, which sounds a lot like they won’t see too much of him but they’ll still see his money. Walsh helped found the fledgeling radio network by infusing a lot of cash, both from himself and his donors, as Err America bought its way on the air. (Don’t get me wrong — if I could find a paranoid billionaire who thought the best way around campaign-finance laws was to buy me radio stations like they were toys, you’d bet I’d take him up on it.) Walsh seems to have tired of the venture rather quickly, as have media critics, even liberal ones such as David Shaw.
Logan, however, apparently got walked out of the office, at least according to a staffer. His duties, which included programming and operations, have been reassigned to on-air talent Lizz Winstead and chief counsel David Goodfriend. When you have to have your lawyer run operations and your on-air host run programming, that indicates that George Soros may not be cutting checks to the organization any more. Perhaps he finally listened to the shows, or maybe he’s lost interest. We’ll know for sure when Err America assigns Chuck D to Sales and has Al Franken running security.
Spinning, however, goes on as usual. Despite the apparent firing of Logan, Err America chairman Evan Cohen denied that anything at all was amiss in liberal paradise:

Chairman Evan Cohen characterized the management departures as the normal growing pains of a start-up. “Businesses have an evolutionary process,” he said. “If you’re looking for `Shake-up at Air America Radio,’ that’s a creation in your own mind.”

One thing that I do have to admit is that the changes seem to have resulted in an immediate improvement in their programming:

In Chicago, the network pulled its morning shows off the air Monday, replacing them with music and a periodic promotional message telling listeners how to hear the network over satellite radio and the Internet. Cohen said he wanted to inform listeners where to find Air America in case a new station isn’t lined up by Friday.

Unfortunately, the improvement was short-lived; they went back to regular programming in the afternoon. (via Leather Penguin)

Thank God For Liberal Talk Radio

Lately, my Northern Alliance brethren and I have been poking fun at the travails at the hopelessly inept Air America, who can’t even get radio air time based on their talent. They have to purchase large chunks of it instead, confirming the lack of a market for their schtick, at least at this time. Despite our schadenfruede at Air America’s problems, I have found a reason to be thankful for liberal talk radio in today’s Star Tribune:

Stillwater DFLer Janet Robert, who lost to U.S. Rep. Mark Kennedy in a heated contest in 2002 and had been expected to try again this year, said Friday that she has decided not to run after all.
Robert said she will devote her full energies to the fledgling Minnesota Production Network (MPN), a corporation she helped start to provide a liberal talk-radio alternative to the often conservative mix.

Robert made her decision at a particularly poor time for the Minnesota DFL (Democrats). She had been the only candidate seeking the DFL endorsement for the race against Kennedy, who proved to be the better campaigner against Robert the last time out. In fact, Robert ran such a nasty and mean-spirited campaign that some credit her ads for assisting the DFL to its worst statewide showing in recent memory when it lost the governorship, one Senate seat, and control of the state House.
Fortunately for Kennedy, her efforts will now focus on a new endeavor — bringing liberal talk radio to Minnesota:

Robert said she will devote her full energies to the fledgling Minnesota Production Network (MPN), a corporation she helped start to provide a liberal talk-radio alternative to the often conservative mix.
“I made a commitment to talk radio and I realized it was such a big commitment of time that I couldn’t focus on both of them,” she said. “Talk radio was more important than one congressional campaign, and I have to make sure it succeeds first.”

It seems to me that Roberts has her priorities a bit mixed up, or else she’s not telling the entire truth. While I love being involved in talk radio, there’s no question in my mind that between capturing a seat in Congress from the opposing party and setting up a radio show, I pick winning a seat in Congress every time. The entire point of political talk radio is to promote your political philosophy so that you can convince listeners to support candidates who match your positions. If you can successfully get to Congress, doesn’t that matter a lot more than simply talking about it?
I’ll put it another way. Let’s say I have the talent and opportunity to play major-league baseball for at least a couple of seasons. Would it make sense for me to pass that up in order to start a local sports page? Of course not! A much more likely explanation is this:

The Sixth District frames the metro area on the north, extending from Washington County in the east to Stearns and Benton counties in the west. The Cook Political Report recently rated the district “solid Republican,” but DFL state party Chair Mike Erlandson said the district also has more swing voters than any other in the state. Much will depend, he said, on the presidential race and the economy.

Combine the demographics with Robert’s reputation from her last run — talk was that the delegates to the convention were likely to reject her even if she was the only candidate — and you have a much better idea why Robert has decided that radio is the better part of politics, at least for her. Typically, she’s cast her decision as a crusade against those eeeeeeeeevil conservatives who appear on talk radio … such as myself, I would assume:

“If you look at how Republicans have used their right-wing radio stations to lie about the state of the economy, the war in Iraq and health care, you know about the power of the media,” she said. “We’re trying to get one station dedicated full time to the truth.”

Sounds like a re-emergence of Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy paranoia, but if it keeps her out of Congress, I’m all for it!

The Sound of One Hand Clapping

Drudge reports that Air America has been pulled off the air in Los Angeles and Chicago due to non-payment of fees — which Air America hotly denies (via The Corner):

The CHICAGO TRIBUNE is developing a story, insiders tell DRUDGE, on how the network was pulled off the air this morning in Chicago and Los Angeles, the network’s second- and third-largest markets, because, the owner of both stations said, the network bounced a check and owes him more than $1 million!

Air America, as I said, is not very happy about this description:

MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting’s conduct in this matter has been disgraceful. To shut off a broadcast that listeners rely on without warning and in the middle of discussions is the height of irresponsibility and a slap in the face of the media industry. In addition, it is a clear violation of their contractual obligations, and we are seeking legal remedies against them in court.

In other words, don’t expect them back on the air in LA or Chicago any time soon.

Northern Alliance Radio Goes National!

Great news for all of you who have asked when the Northern Alliance Radio Network will be heard outside of the Twin Cities — Hugh Hewitt has graciously asked us to fill in for him on his nationwide show on the Salem Radio Network on Tuesday, April 13th, and Wednesday, April 14th! We’re not sure why Hugh has entrusted us with the smartest listenership in radio for two full nights; we suspect that a member or two of the gang at Fraters Libertas may have uncovered some deep, dark secret from the Lord High Commissioner’s past. However it happened, we’re delighted to step in from our cozy little studio here at AM 1280 The Patriot. The air times and stations will be the same (3-6 PM Pacific) — just tune into Hugh’s show and we’ll be there. Monday, Mark Larson will fill in for Hugh.
If you do not get the Hugh Hewitt show in your area, the first thing you need to do is to call a local talk-radio station and demand that they get the show. After that, go to the on-line feed from here and tune us in. Hugh’s web site can direct you to other Internet feeds as well.
While we’re celebrating our opportunity to temporarily replace Hugh, you may want to know what the competition is doing. Via Drudge, it turns out that Air America, the new liberal talk-radio network, is busy kicking more minority voices off the air for that diverse crew of Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Kathryn Lampher, and so on:

The Mercury News, citing a company press release, said the new radio network would air on two stations that currently offer Asian-language programming — San Francisco’s KVTO-AM 1400 and San Jose’s KVVN-AM 1430. The Air American programming will be broadcast in English, but neither the radio network nor the two stations have said when the change would occur or what the future held for the stations’ employees. KVTO general manger Harvey Stone could not be reached for comment.
Both stations are owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corp., which also owns Air American Radio’s New York flagship station, WLIB-AM 1190. Inner City sparked controversy when it displaced WLIB’s black-themed talk format to make room for Air American’s format.

Sounds like FrankenNet should be calling itself Error America instead. Do these people have any clue whatsoever?