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RevGate: Air America Phoenix co-host arrested
Barbara Yost of the Arizona Republic gives a gigantic wet one to Air America Phoenix host and city council candidate Jarrett B. Maupin II in "Up & running". As previously discussed, The Reverend Al Sharpton, Jarrett B. Maupin II, and his father were allegedly speeding south of Dallas. JBM Senior was arrested.The article says that Senior is II's co-host on II's radio program.
That makes this the first arrest of an Air America personality, albeit on a local show.
The article includes this stomach-churning bit:
...Maupin had a chance to see Sharpton in action when the two traveled to Crawford, Texas, last weekend to hold a prayer vigil with anti-war protestor Cindy Sheehan. On their way to the Dallas airport Sunday, state troopers pulled over their rented Lincoln, which Maupin's father was driving. The younger Maupin says a sheriff's officer approached the car with his gun drawn. The officer claimed they had been chasing the car for 19 miles at speeds of 110 mph.And, AZ Rep. Kyrsten Sinema says he's "a shining example of young people's involvement."
Maupin Sr. says he was going no faster than surrounding traffic, was not weaving or evading police as officers claimed. He pulled over as soon as troopers flagged the car. Their car and luggage were searched. Maupin Sr. was taken to jail. Police impounded the rental car, forcing Sharpton, his aid and Maupin to walk along the highway carrying their bags until passing motorists offered them a ride to Dallas.
"It was like Mississippi Burning," Maupin says, referring to the 1988 movie about a clash between civil rights activists and sheriff's officers in the South.
His father believes their car had been tailed since leaving the anti-war protest. Sharpton, he says, "kept his cool" and paid Maupin Sr.'s $1,000 bond.
Maupin took the incident in stride, just another day in the life of the battle for civil rights. "It's all in a day's work," he says.
Posted in Meta at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
Randi Rhodes wrong about Bush golfing during Katrina
From 8/30 comes this Randi quote:
"The president went golfing at the El Mirage Golf Course yesterday while the people were literally suffering... The president decided that the best use of his time would be to go golfing."
Do I need to tell you that that was apparently false?
Posted in RandiRhodes at 10:42 AM | Comments (4)
Randi Rhodes gets sloppy at Camp Casey
From this 8/30 entry here:In marked contrast to her testy interview yesterday with NPR's Neal Conan, Cindy Sheehan was warm and friendly during an appearance this afternoon on Randi Rhodes' program on Air America Radio. The two reminisced about Rhodes' visit to Camp Casey and their budding friendship. "Did you tell your listeners we're best friends now and we're going to terrorize New York City?" Sheehan said to Rhodes.Thankfully, there are no Christmas trees in that part of Texas.
Rhodes responded by telling a story from her visit to Camp Casey. "I will never forget that night sitting outside under the stars with you," Rhodes told Sheehan. "It was at one of those wrought-iron tables you see out in lawn-furniture land...Cindy Sheehan drinks Heineken...I was drinking Corona...It was just like five girls, and we were sitting around...All of a sudden, I got a beer, and I put it down, and it went right through the table..."
Posted in RandiRhodes at 10:34 AM | Comments (1)
"Great Liberal Hope" crashing, burning?
"Accuracy in Media" wonders why the MSM has been largely mum on the doings at AAR:A scandal involving the liberal Air America radio network has been brewing right under the noses of the mainstream media, and they've barely taken notice. Perhaps they're afraid that their "Great Liberal Hope" on the air may be crashing and burning...That also directs our attention to the 8/12 WashTimes editorial "When silence isn't golden". That wonders why "liberals" who've previously been big supporters of the Boys and Girls Clubs aren't speaking out about Gloria Wise's name being trashed in the media.
...Stories about this scandal have appeared in the New York Post, the Daily News and the Washington Times, WorldNetDaily, NewsMax and several blogs. The New York Sun had the most thorough recounting of the details of the transactions.
But the silence by the left speaks volumes. Where is the righteous indignation from Maureen Dowd or Paul Krugman of the New York Times? The Times belatedly ran one story on the investigation, and the Washington Post carried one AP story. Why no reports on NBC, CBS or ABC?
Posted in Meta at 02:10 PM | Comments (1)
RevGate: AAR host Jarrett Maupin II in car with Sharpton during "chase"
As previously speculated, the person arrested for evading police while driving Rev. Al Sharpton to DFW is the father of Air America Phoenix host Jarrett Maupin II. Maupin II is also a candidate for Phoenix City Council. While a white Ford Bronco was not involved in this alleged chase, the graphics accompanying this post help illustrate what might have been happening.
"City Council candidate has run-in with Texas police" has confirmed our speculation:
Phoenix City Council candidate Jarrett Maupin II had a run-in with Texas law enforcement after a visit Sunday with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan at her camp outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford.Now, it looks like "II" (aka "The Rev") will have something to talk about on his Air America talk show, which is broadcast on KXXT 1010 AM on Sundays between 3 and 5pm. Note, of course, that the Arizona Republic failed to mention the AAR connection:
Maupin was riding in a car driven by his father, Jarrett Barton Maupin, 43. The senior Maupin was stopped and accused of trying to evade police by driving at speeds up to 110 mph on Interstate 35 in Ellis County.
Also riding in the car were the Rev. Al Sharpton and one of Sharpton's assistants...
The younger Maupin said they were not speeding and that his father was arrested on "trumped up" charges.The police claim they offered them a lift, but they decided to walk instead.
He said that after his father was arrested he, Sharpton and Sharpton's assistant had to walk along the freeway carrying their luggage because police had impounded the rented car. A couple picked them up and gave them a ride to the airport.
Sharpton told the Associated Press that the sheriff's report was "ludicrous on its face" and accused the officers of "embellishing the story."
No justice, no peace!
Free Mumia!
No justice, no peace!
Free the Cuban Five!
No justice, no peace!
Free Maupin!
UPDATE: The DUmmies weigh in on the arrest:
"MarkTwain" says: Whoever let him cross into that Camp to be associated with Cindy is stupid. Just plain dirt-dumb stupid... The historical record is replete, for many, many years, on Sharpton and only a fool would have encouraged and allowed "Reverend Al" to soil the grounds of Camp Casey.
"Nonsense" says: Just more right wing rhetoric. The tactic now is to accuse critics of racism of being racist or of playing the race card. That tactic is clearly seen through and is a bit old. Certain people readily pounce on Sharpton for speeding yet conveniently ignore the fact that blacks are racially profiled every day in this country. They are constantly being pulled over by the police for no good reason whatsoever and this could have been one of those situations. But, oh no, it's Al Sharpton and his critics, full of hate, prefer to believe the account of the police, the police with its history of abusing African Americans... If Sharpton was speeding, I wouldn't blame him. I have relatives who live in Texas and they and their friends will not travel to certain parts of that state because of the deep racism that exists in those areas. Sharpton might have been fearful. If so, he had good reason to be.
"Tomee450" says: For your information, many people still believe Tawana Brawley.
Posted in AlsoRans at 10:03 AM | Comments (3)
Air America's brush with Al Sharpton fame
Reverend Jarrett B. Maupin II (aka "The Rev") hosts "Issues & Answers" on Phoenix's KXXT from 3-5pm on Sundays.Earlier today, someone identified as "Jarrett Barton Maupin, 43, of Phoenix" was arrested for evading police on a high speed chase. He was rushing another Reverend, Al Sharpton, to DFW after Sharpton's meeting with Cindy Sheehan. He was clocked at 110 in a 65MPH zone on I35. And, "The Rev" was broadcasting live from Camp Casey together with "The Rev Sharpton".
Note, however, that this page claims that the KXXT host is only 18. Combining that with the "II" in his name, the person arrested might be his father.
From the KXXT bio page:
Reverend Jarrett B. Maupin II is the leader in the next generation of civil rights and minority political leaders. Jarrett is a catalyst for substantive change for the disenfranchised and overlooked populace. He has served as the National Youth Director and AZ Chairman of National Action Network, the civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton in 1991. He also went to work for the DNC as an ambassador to urban youth, during the 2004 election cycle. Featured on MSNBC, CNN, FOX, BET and many other national media outlets, Jarrett or "The Rev", as his friends call him, is currently a candidate for the Phoenix City Council.
Join Jarrett every Sunday, from 3-5 PM, for Issues and Answers, as he exposes injustices and explores solutions in the quest for change.
Now he'll have something to talk about.
UPDATE: I originally thought that the person arrested might be the KXXT host himself, but after finding the Redstate story I corrected the above to reflect what is probably the correct relationship.
UPDATE 2: The Man has posted a picture of the alleged perp here. I think we can rule out JBM II being the driver, although any familial connection is still open, and whether JBM II was in the car is not yet known. Also, pictured right is a white bronco, which has nothing to do with this case.
Posted in AlsoRans at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)
Fortune doesn't seem to buy Air America's ownership change
The Fortune Magazine article "Air America's Long, Odd Summer" discusses the scandal, and it contains many of the points that you're probably already familiar with:
...It was a bizarre story, but the new management's public response is proving to be even stranger. Following word of the investigations (Eliot Spitzer's state gumshoes have since joined in), Air America, whose CEO is now former record executive Danny Goldberg, retreated into opaque legalism. An official statement in late July explained that a new entity now controls Air America and that it "had absolutely no involvement" with the Boys & Girls Club. That was technically true, but it left out the fact that the new entity consisted of the same asset—Air America—and many of the same investors, including heavyweights such as RealNetwork’s Rob Glaser. In other words, the new entity looked suspiciously like the old entity.
Emphasis added. The article also mentions this site! Or at least, that's what I think:
...The network's strange behavior has been fodder for conservative bloggers...
It goes on to discuss the Multicultural suit.
Posted in Meta at 04:21 PM | Comments (0)
Air America: Robbin' da Hood since 2004
(From "petefrt"'s photostream)
Posted in Satire at 05:24 AM | Comments (0)
Cindy Sheehan, Randi Rhodes, Martin Sheen, Al Sharpton, and you
As previously discussed, Randi Rhodes made a very special surprise guest appearance on the Brad Show/Laura Flanders Show simulcast live from Camp Casey in Crawford TX.
There's a picture of Randi and a couple of Laura here, which includes this heartwarming news:
Rumor has it we'll hear from Rev. Al Sharpton, Randi Rhodes and perhaps Martin Sheen (the real President of the United States [today]...Perhaps he'll be able to tell us what the "noble cause" is.)
Meanwhile, the Houston Democrats missed Randi's appareance, but they do have a picture of Joan Baez (hey, some people are into that, and this is a non-judgemental site).
Last week, Air America's San Diego outlet AM 1360 KLSD, sent their Stacy Taylor to the festivities. A video clip is here, uninteresting pictures are here.
This site has another picture of Joan Baez (look, it's not my place to ask questions about personal preferences). They also have a sign suggesting that Bush send the twins. Indeed.
Meanwhile, AAR's Phoenix outlet KXXT Talk 1010 AM, has converted their site into pimping Cindy's cause. They've even created a whole new site dedicated to that effort: CrawfordOrBust.com.
The attractive Kim Macias, who appears to be in their advertising department, swooned but has recovered. Check out those prices! Just $15 for 15 minutes of air time on a barely-listened-to "liberal" station? (There's also another picture of Joan Baez further down the page. Hey, who am I to judge?)
UPDATE: Pictured right is the Rev. Al Sharpton's appearance. However, that picture doesn't show you everything that was going on. Click here for the wider shot showing what else was happening. You probably won't be surprised. CNN informs us that the Right Rev. felt "compelled" to meet Cindy.
Posted in RandiRhodes at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
AAR listeners: Move to Portland now!
The post "Air America ratings still in the toilet" has a roundup of AAR's latest ratings fiascos, including these:In Washington, D.C., WWRC fell to a 0.3 rating and is in last place in the market.But, in the comments, it's pointed out that:
In Boston, the two AAR stations take up the last two spots in the ratings chart with ratings of 0.4 and 0.2.
...In Detroit, WDTW was a flat 0.4 which is tied for last in the city.
...In San Francisco, KQKE increased slightly to a tiny 1.4 in the most liberal city in the county and is in 23rd place. Still the station is down 0.5 from last summer...
In Portland, which is one of the top 25 media markets in the nation, KPOJ-AM (the Clear Channel owned Air America affiliate) ranks #5 overall and #2 in AM with a 4.5 share...I know AAR can do even better, but they need YOUR help. If you're an AAR listener, immediately move to Portland. Now! Help Air America get to #1! Portland is a wonderful town and you'll like it a lot! Please, move there now and help Al and Randi rocket to the top spot!
Posted in Meta at 05:35 AM | Comments (2)
Air America now "the Joseph Goebbels network"
Bill O'Reilly on AAR:
...look, those are clowns! Those are jugglers! Those are bear-baiters. There are people in the Middle Ages who would be going town to town wearing two-toned hats with bells on them, with all due respect. They don't know anything. I mean, it's just insane. I mean, if you're listening to that outfit, which is rapidly going bankrupt and now owes $900,000 to a children's charity that lent them money they can't pay back, if you're listening to that kind of nonsense for anything other than just entertainment value -- but if you're believing what they say, you're an extremist. They don't know anything! It's all crazy propaganda. The Joseph Goebbels network...
Via the Soros-funded MMFA.
Posted in Meta at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
Randi Rhodes at KKZN; Boulder audience defined
Who, you might ask, listens to Air America's Boulder CO outlet KKZN? Why, none other than "Nina Storey", pictured right. Nina is apparently a "Lilith"-style singer-songwriter and a typical resident of that fine, albeit "liberal" city.
Another listener is this guy, who had his own brush with fame:
Randi Rhodes had gone outside to meet with those who couldn't make it inside. Apparently, the line was still wrapping around the building after the cutoff! Randi was signing autographcs outside while we partied.I know one thing: that radio station never would have forgotten about Al Franken. Al, Al, Al!
Inside, Nina Storey was performing in a very intimate venue. She was right there. :-) Nina Storey is a Lillith-type singer, kind of a mix of soul and folk, and she's extremely good! She's also a Boulder local, and man does she look the part...
[His friend] managed to catch an "I Did Not Vote 4 Bush" band bracelet they were throwing into the crowd!
...[Another friend] won a Janeane Garofalo-autographed Air America T-shirt! SO COOL! Later on, she got it signed by Randi Rhodes as well...awesome!!
...They even raffled off the Bush Dart Board, signed by Randi Rhodes and Jay Marvin...
...Once the raffle was over, we realized that Randi Rhodes was still outside. AM 760 kinda goofed here, she'd pretty much been outside the entire time, so it was time to go find her...
Alternatively, how do we know that wasn't an intentional move on KKZN's part to silence the voices of truth? But, find her he did, even getting an autograph, a hug, and his photo with the radio star.
Posted in RandiRhodes at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
Camp Casey now black hole of "liberalism"
RawStory can now reveal:Laura Flanders of Air America Radio and Brad Friedman of Raw Story Radio's The BRAD SHOW have announced plans to simulcast their programs together this Saturday Night, Live from Crawford, TX.UPDATE: Randi Rhodes has made a surprise appearance in Crawford and on the simulacast, DUmmies report.
The BRAD SHOW has broadcast 26 hours of live, daily coverage of events at Camp Casey, including performances by Joan Baez and comments by Cindy Sheehan. Friedman's interview with Sheehan on Thursday was her first one-on-one interview since her return to Crawford. This weekend, Friedman plans to broadcast eight hours each day, beginning at 1 PM EST/ 10 AM PST. The Air America simulcast will begin at 7 PM EST / 4 PST.
Posted in Meta at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)
Help find Evan Montvel Cohen!
The NY Sun reports that "[Air America Radio's] Former Chairman Is Missing":The former chairman of Air America Radio, Evan Montvel Cohen - who former colleagues said engineered transfers of more than $800,000 to the liberal radio network from a boys and girls club in the Bronx - is missing, according to a lawyer who is trying to have him served with legal papers.I have no graphic skills nor a library of clipart, so you'll just have to imagine a milk bottle with Cohen's picture on it right about here.
At least two people have said Mr. Cohen is in Hawaii. He has not responded to a series of e-mail messages in recent weeks from The New York Sun asking him about his role...
...It was at Beloit [College in Wisconsin] that Mr. Cohen befriended a future White House aide, David Goodfriend.
After serving as deputy staff secretary to President Clinton, Mr. Goodfriend became a leading figure in conceptualizing and launching Air America. It was he who introduced Mr. Cohen to investors...
"We are still trying to locate him," Mr. Mastro, a deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration who is representing MultiCultural Radio Broadcasting in its suit against Air America, said yesterday...
For more on the scandal, Brian Maloney offers Part 2 of his investigation. This time it's on AAR co-founder Sheldon Drobny.
Posted in Meta at 12:13 PM | Comments (1)
Janeane Garofalo to redefine "frumpy" in West Wing role
This worthless blurb on Janeane's appearances on the West Wing only tells you one thing you didn't know: her name on the show will be "Louise Thornton".
It does, however, include a picture of America's used-to-be-cute but now-is-troubled sweetheart from an appearance at a MoveOn concert way back in 2004. Larger version here.
Posted in Janeane at 10:40 AM | Comments (2)
The Clinton - Gore - Air America network discovered
According to Air America Radio founder Sheldon Drobny, both Al Gore and Bill "Bubba" Clinton got personally involved in helping raise funds to start AAR:
"They helped us... How they helped us was to make introductions to a lot of good people... Especially Al Gore, who introduced me to Al Franken... [Franken] was my dream franchise player when we first conceived of the [radio] idea. And Vice President Gore was very helpful in making the introductions..."
But, it didn't work out:
"They didn't bring any major funding to the table."
Maybe Gore could have introduced him to some Chinese monks.
As for the Air America scandal:
"That particular transaction occurred with the previous ownership... And I cannot legally talk about it although I'd love to. But that was not our loan, it was a loan to the previous owners."
Posted in Meta at 10:27 AM | Comments (2)
Scandal counter retired; AAR scandal continues
What a strange, strange journey it's been. However, I figure it's about time to remove the scandal counter from the right sidebar.
Posted in Blog at 08:52 PM | Comments (1)
Lawyer: Air America in trouble
Remember back last year when "Radio Free America" sold its assets to the current owners of Air America, Piquant LLC? Multicultural Broadcasting - owners of AAR's original Chicago and L.A. stations - was involved and sued Piquant LLC.Our VRWC legal team* has reviewed the complaint, and comments:
The complaint alleges that the directors and officers of Radio Free America owed a "fiduciary duty of loyalty to Radio Free America's creditors," which they breached. The complaint also alleges that the directors and officers of Piquant (the transferee) aided and abetted that breach.* That's just a joke. There is no such thing as the "VRWC legal team". In fact, there's no such thing as a "VRWC" to begin with.
There are a number of precedents holding that when a corporation is insolvent, the directors and officers in fact do owe fiduciary duties to creditors...
The transfer of Air America's assets from Radio Free America to Piquant appears to be a self-dealing transaction, since at least some of the former's owners, directors, and/or officers are also among the owners of the latter. As such, the defendants will have the burden of proving that Radio Free America received fair consideration for the assets being transferred...
Posted in Meta at 08:31 PM | Comments (1)
Tough, tough questions for Al Franken
The Progressive magazine has a ground-breaking, hard-hitting interview with Stuart Smalley. It includes this newsworthy question and answer:Q: How is Air America doing? In the beginning, the press was all about how it had gotten off to a rough start, but now it seems to be doing better.Now, in fairness, while this "interview"/act of kindness appears in their September issue and appears to have just been posted to their website, it could have been conducted weeks before the scandal. Or...
Franken: Yeah, we shot ourselves in the foot right out of the gate. The guy who ran it at first misled pretty much everybody about how much capital we had. He said we had enough to go three years without making money, and we had enough to go three weeks. So in week four, we learned that we bounced a check or two, and that we’d lose our stations in Los Angeles and Chicago, which were our second and third largest markets. It was horrible, and everybody was counting us out, and you can imagine how attractive our network would be to radio stations when it looked like we were going under...
Posted in StuartSmalley at 11:47 PM | Comments (2)
NYT: Air America scandal fell through cracks; no liberal bias here
The New York Times ombudsman has ordered that the following completely voluntary confession be promulgated to the bourgeois reactionary forces:Readers of The Times were poorly served by the paper's slowness to cover official investigations into questionable financial transactions involving Air America, the liberal radio network. The Times's first article on the investigations finally appeared last Friday after weeks of articles by other newspapers in New York and elsewhere.
The Times's recent slowness stands in contrast to its flurry of articles about Air America in the spring of 2004...
..."We were slow in the first place and need to do more," Rick Berke, an associate managing editor at The Times, told me Monday. While it's no excuse for such a belated response to the brewing scandal, it's true that pieces of the unfolding story fell in the domains of three different parts of the newsroom: the metropolitan desk, the business desk and the culture desk. There was, my inquiries suggest, a lack of coordination and awareness of what the paper's competitors across town were writing...
There's another reason to get to the bottom of the scandal. It's the perception problem - a perception of liberal bias for which I haven't found any evidence after checking with editors at the paper.
Failing to cover the story until late last week has led numerous readers, especially those who seemed inspired by conservative bloggers, to write in saying that a liberal bias in the newsroom caused the paper to downplay the budding scandal...
Posted in Meta at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
AAR to rock Beeville, Texas. Just not San Antonio.
Air America Radio is no doubt proud to announce their 70th affiliate, KTXX out of Karnes City, Texas. Where? Well, for a clue to that we turn to the station's title: "103.1, San Antone". Only problem: the station is 50 miles from that city, and is predicted to be in the "fringe" listening area for the half of that city that can hear it.
"NYLefty" tries to smear us and others with this:
It really annoys me when AAR does this. This station will get zero ratings in the San Antonio Arbitrons and the right will seize on that fact as further "proof" that AAR is "failing." But obviously a station can't get ratings in a market where it can't be heard!
Au contraire! When and if I mention that station I'll make it quite clear exactly what's going on.
Posted in Meta at 03:16 PM | Comments (0)
Janeane Garofalo on the West Wing
America's formerly-cute-but-still-troubled sweetheart will be appearing in the episodes of the West Wing this coming season.
She will be playing a media strategist.
She will demand more steak, less sizzle:
Her advice to move away from political gamesmanship and start speaking directly to voters ruffles feathers within the [Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits)] campaign, including those of Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford).
I invite my readers to take it from there. What dialogue and situations can you come up with that would be more entertaining that what will most likely end up on the air?
Perhaps - in a nod to current events - they could have Janeane's "media relations" company embroiled in a scandal. Then, it could all turn out to have been a witchhunt by the VRWC, led by a shadowy radio personality named "Speed Wilkins". The fact that it was all fake could be uncovered with the assistance of a multi-billionaire saint-like figure who funded a study by a group called "Public Matters for America". Martin Sheen could appeal to him for help, and the irascible but lovable billionaire could agree to help him in order to turn back the forces of evil!
Posted in Janeane at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)
Raleigh News & Observer on the scandal
The Executive editor of that newspaper released the following statementon August 9:Here's a brief response I've sent a couple of email correspondents who accuse The N&O of liberal bias for not publishing a story on financial questions they have heard about involving Air America, the national radio network heard in the Triangle on WCHL-AM in Chapel Hill, and a charity in the Bronx. Here's what I said: "We've checked our news services in recent days and do not find this story... if a story is reported and distributed we will look at publishing it."This post discusses the following excuses from Sill as to why the scandal wasn't covered, which boil down to the N&O not having something they could publish. However, he interviews four newspaper editors who basically say that's hogwash. A commentor says this:
Blogs can draw attention to overlooked stories, and perhaps that's the case here. We'll keep looking.
I just Lexis/Nexis searched and posted to Sill's blog. Turns out, the N&O has copied quotes, sections and entire STORIES from the NY Post and NY Daily News in the last year.Just keep repeating to yourself: there is no liberal media, there is no liberal media.
So much for the "We found it but cannot publish it" thing.
Posted in Meta at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
Was Nick Coleman censored by KTNF AM 950?
KTNF is Air America Minnesota, and Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman participated in their morning drive show from January until early July. Then, he apparently took a vacation, which soon turned into a "vacation". Now the truth can be told, via this email received from the pundit himself:I essentially quit AM950 * refusing to come in for work and asking to be placed on "hiatus" by the station on July 25. My official resignation was tendered Aug. 8. I'll give you a short list of reasons why:The management in question disputes this account:
1) Station management increasingly demanded control over "topics, tone and guests" and ordered certain hot button topics off limits, such as guns, gays and abortion. I refused to comply...
[Station general manager] Janet Robert strenuously denies most of Coleman's claims. She did not interfere with Coleman's choice of topics, she says, including any criticism of the war in Iraq. (She states that she, too, opposes it.) "We do not censor anybody on this radio station," Robert says. On the Joe Palan matter, Roberts says simply, "He quit." She repeats, too, "I don't discuss personnel matters."A local disputes Coleman's spin as well:
Anyone who spent any time listening to the Coleman show may find the claim that he was restricted from talking about Iraq or "gays" to be highly curious, as they were his twin obsessions for conversation topics.The Pioneer Press' Craig Westover says:
However, having been the butt-end (playing straight man for Nick here) of his tirades, I'd point out there is a big difference between control over topics as in censoring certain discussions and demanding that controversial topics be handled in a civil and respectful manner. Nick has a tendency to confuse "conflict" with "controversy" and "controversy" with "relevance." A journalist takes the chaos of conflict and distills it down to the basic issues of controversy so people can have a relevant discussion. From my experience, Nick views conflict as an end in itself and thus makes himself irrelevant...Now, here's where it gets interesting. The same site that got the email from Coleman was sent an internal Air America Minnesota memo, containing this:
JR Broadcasting will not permit discussion of the issues of gun control, abortion, or gay marriage.However, Roberts says that was just a draft and Coleman was never censored.
OK, that's enough Minnesota coverage for a while, eh.
Posted in Meta at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)
NYT's first coverage of Air America scandal ends in a correction
The struggling propagandists in New York City just can't buy a break. First it takes them two weeks to finally cover the Air America scandal, which generates this correction:
A New York Times story on Page A9 Saturday misquoted comments made on the air by Al Franken, the host of an Air America radio program. Referring to Evan Cohen, a former network official whom Franken accused of having engineered a loan from a Bronx social service agency to the network, Franken said: "I don't know why they did it, and I don't know where the money went. I don't know if it was used for operations, which I imagine it was. I think he was robbing Peter to pay Paul."
Posted in Meta at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)
AP on the Air America scandal
On Saturday the AP released a stock blurb on the scandal. If you've been following this scandal and you've read, for instance, the NYT report there's nothing new. The official title, under which it appears in a few dozen papers, appears to be "N.Y. community center loan investigated".
The story has 15 paragraphs and seven mentions of "Air America", so, gosh, wouldn't one tend to think that AAR could make it into the headline? Especially since most people tend to skip uninteresting headlines and, if anything is uninteresting, a loan and a community center qualify.
These sources change the headline to better match the story (same AP report):
"Investigators probe loan to Air America Radio"
Probe Into Community Center Loan to Air America
Investigators probe public loan to liberal station
Investigators probe New York community center loan to Air America Radio
Posted in Meta at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)
NYT: "Bronx Boys Club's Finances Investigated"
That tired grey old liberal lady down the block finally gets around to the Air America scandal over two weeks after it first broke:The state attorney general's office and the city's Department of Investigation are looking into whether a boys and girls club serving poor children and ailing elderly people in the Bronx had improper financial dealings, including loans to the Air America radio network, state and city officials said yesterday...I'm famous! The NYT referred to a group of which I'm a part!
Jim Grossman, a spokesman for Gloria Wise, said the club had given Air America about $875,000, though he added that he did not know exactly how, or in what form, it had been given. He also said the club and the network had reached an agreement under which the money had been placed in escrow and would eventually be repaid to the club...
...[Jaime Horn, a spokeswoman for Air America said] that investigators recently told the network that Mr. Cohen had served simultaneously as the development director for Gloria Wise, although the network was not aware of that at the time...
Mr. Franken took up the issue on the air on Monday afternoon, telling his listeners that Mr. Cohen was "a crook" who had borrowed money from Gloria Wise.
"I don't know why he did it," Mr. Franken said, according to a transcript of the broadcast made by the Department of Investigation. "I don't know where the money went. I don't know if it was used for operations. I think he was borrowing from Peter to pay Paul."
Mr. Franken also said that the network's new owners "don't legally have to pay it back" - referring to the loans - "because we're a different company or something."
"But morally we do," he said.
Nonetheless, word of the investigations ignited a firestorm of criticism on the Internet, especially among conservative-leaning blogs that have essentially accused the network of robbing from the poor to pay its bills...
Note that this is in the New York region section, not in the main section. And, note that they're basically spinning this in the same way as Al Franken is. And, note that back in June 2004 I linked to this discussion from a UCLA corporate law professor on the sale of Air America to Piquant. At the time I said that he "thinks a securities fraud lawsuit might be in AA's future."
Note also that back on July 31 I offered the satire "Air America still recovering from disastrous beginnings", which attempted to predict how this would be spun and included this "quote" from Al Franken:
"We all believed in Evan Cohen," a contrite Al Franken said, tears welling in his eyes. "But, he let us down."Let me suggest sending short, polite, but bitingly sarcastic emails to public *at* nytimes.com thanking them for being the first with this breaking news.
Posted in Meta at 10:29 PM | Comments (5)
What about Big Ed Schultz?
Is he a VRWC plant like some say over at DU? Or, is he now a committed liberal? Say something nice about the left's answer to Rush.
Posted in Ed Schultz at 09:29 AM | Comments (17)
Even Mike Malloy has his good points, right?
Now, it's Mike Malloy's turn. Leave a comment pointing out something good about Air America's most energetic host.
Posted in MikeWho at 08:27 AM | Comments (13)
Now, say something nice about Randi Rhodes!
Surely it shouldn't be difficult to say something nice about Ms. Randi, right? One or more commentators have said some non-nice things about her, now it's time for the other side.
Posted in RandiRhodes at 08:25 AM | Comments (55)
It's say something nice about Al Franken Day!
Sure, negative comments about Stuart Smalley are as plentiful as stars in the sky. But, for a change of pace, I invite even his political foes to say something nice about him.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 09:23 AM | Comments (27)
Arizona Republic covers AAR scandal?
Is the pro-illegal immigration rag known as the Arizona Republic part of the MSM? Well, no, even if they are a fairly well-known newspaper.But, the column from Doug MacEachern appears to be the first time something close to the MSM has touched this issue: "A scandal below the radar". After giving a rundown of what we know now, he has this:
...Wholly unrocked by the experience, however, is the Bronx-area paper of record, the New York Times, which, since the story began to seriously break on July 29, has published exactly nothing on the scandal.
The Times' lack of interest has become the scandal within the scandal. Bloggers, of course, are making hay over the Times' disinterest in a story that casts the formerly much-heralded Air America in a very bad light.
As well they should. News judgment is a subjective thing, certainly. But it is difficult to imagine a more politically explosive New York-centric subject than this one.
Posted in Meta at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)
Our Earl leaves WDOD!?!?
Previously we discussed the letters that Chattanooga TN's WDOD had received from angry listeners after it leaked out that they were considering switching from big band music to... Air America. WDOD's mainstay host is one Earl Fruedenberg, who joined the station when he left high school in 1965...
From the last link came this quote:
Mr. Downs said morning host Earl Fruedenberg "is a fixture on WDOD and we expect he will remain a fixture for a long time to come." Asked if the 6-10 a.m. slot for Mr. Freudenberg would be affected by the changes, he said, "Probably not."
As you might have guessed by now, starting Aug. 22 "Our Earl" will be on a new station, WDYN, 89.7. That's owned by Tennessee Temple University and Earl will be interspersing gospel with whatever else he does.
Apparently my idea of keeping Earl at WDOD and creating the "AAR Remixed" format by having him "fisk" what he hears from Al Franken was not heeded. Don't worry about Our Earl though: WDYN is 100,000 watts and can be heard for 95 miles around.
Posted in Meta at 05:28 AM | Comments (8)
Air America sinks in Lake Tahoe
As pointed out in comments, one of Air America's outlets seems to have gone missing. A few days ago their banner said they had 67 stations; today it says 66. A quick comparison of the current page with the cache shows the station that's been deleted: South Lake Tahoe, NV - KTHO-AM 590 AM. Probably not a big loss, since that station doesn't appear to even have its own website. Nevertheless, we shall investigate and report... Developing...
UPDATE: The local paper weighs in on this new AAR scandal in Station returns to music, local news. Apparently the station owner consulted with local businesses (no doubt all Rethuglican plants) and decided to switch to a new format. The news in question will come from roving man-on-the-street reporter Jeff Grice, formerly with KRKC in King City. The music in question is... Barbara Streisand and Petula Clark. Oddly enough, the AAR angle is barely mentioned. So far we've been unable to contact KTHO for comment.
Posted in Meta at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)
Al Franken responds to AAR scandal
According to the NY Sun ("Franken Unaware Of Ex-Colleague's Alleged Loans"), here's what Al is claiming:- he doesn't know whether AAR got any money from Gloria Wise...
- he only learned the details of this in the last week...
- Piquant conducted a forensic accounting (a common term even if the NY Sun has never heard of it) of Progress Media's finances and discovered the issue. That was conducted before the NYC Department of Investigation began their probe...
- Piquant was to begin paying back the loans this month, but stopped when the DOI investigation started...
But, wait, it gets weirder:
A spokesman for the Department of Investigation, Keith Schwam, said that if Air America discovered the transfers before the city probe began, "They neglected to tell anyone at DOI or in the city about it."
...Mr. Franken said his most "charitable" interpretation of the Gloria Wise transfers to Air America was that Mr. Cohen had a "dream and tried to keep it going."
Members of the Gloria Wise executive committee described to the Sun transfers from the club to Mr. Cohen and to Air America that totaled $875,000. They said Sunday that one reason Mr. Cohen cited when asking for personal loans was that he needed money for chemotherapy because he suffered from brain cancer.
Mr. Franken said he did not know whether his former colleague had the disease, but he recalled that Mr. Cohen, a native of Guam who is 39, referred repeatedly to it. For example, Mr. Franken said, he'd complain to Mr. Cohen that studio equipment wasn't working, "and he'd say, 'You know, I have brain cancer.'"
"Brain cancer," Mr. Franken said, "seemed to be his answer to everything." Mr. Franken said he didn't know Mr. Cohen's current whereabouts.
Posted in StuartSmalley at 12:57 PM | Comments (3)
Get the AAR Scandal News Ticker!
Display the AAR Scandal News Ticker on your site and get the latest news on the breaking scandal. See the ticker in action on the right side of this site's front page.You can participate and get your posts about this issue linked in that news box. Just ping this URL:
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UPDATE: I'm using an installation of WordPress to receive the pings, and I'm using "Feed to JavaScript" to take the trackback RSS that WP creates and turn it into the news box. However, I'm not that familiar with WP so I don't have an explanation for the first comment.
I'd also like to simply whitelist anyone who'd ping that URL so I don't have to keep approving trackbacks. I'll look into that later on, but if you're going to ping this now or in the future, leave a URL here so that if I'm able to pre-approve people I'll be able to do it.
Posted in Meta at 01:01 AM | Comments (1)
