What's next? Al Franken standing on a street corner with a squeegee?

[Yonivore]

Brian Maloney (http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/) has the latest installment of the Air Ameriscam saga: "Panhandling next?" (http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2005/09/air-americas-odd-pledge-drive.html) In a message early this morning, Maloney wrote: "Air America's now resorting to begging for money from listeners. Don't miss your chance to get an Air America bumper sticker before it shuts down for good!"

Maloney's investigative partner on the Air Ameriscam beat is Michelle Malkin (http://michellemalkin.com/). Michelle also updates the saga today: "Air America: Groveling for cash." (http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003592.htm) Hey, buddy, can you spare $250? If so, Air America has a deal for you!

[FromWayDowntown]

I have to say that I don't really understand conservatism's fastidious interest in seeing that Air America fails. Is it an interest in assuring that the Right has some sort of talking head viewpoint monopoly? Is it more like the interest in watching a car wreck? Is it just a sublime hatred of the people who have air time on the network.

I mean, it's not as if this has ever really been a fair competition (I mean, wow! What a surprise that talk shows with recognized names on megastations that are parts of meganetworks are beating a smaller start-up with new names, relegated to whatever low-rent frequencies remain available. That's truly a victory.). And because of that, I'm not sure that the inability of Air America to crack the ratings monolith is a clear representation of the general viewpoint of the American public.

The giddiness about the apparently imminent demise of Air America strikes me as much ado about nothing.

[Yonivore]

I have to say that I don't really understand conservatism's fastidious interest in seeing that Air America fails. Is it an interest in assuring that the Right has some sort of talking head viewpoint monopoly? Is it more like the interest in watching a car wreck? Is it just a sublime hatred of the people who have air time on the network.
No, it just shows how bankrupt is the ideology of the left. Left wing newspapers are suffering the same fate. As are left wing television news programs.

I'm wondering when the left is gonna wake up and smell the conservative bent of America.



I mean, it's not as if this has ever really been a fair competition (I mean, wow! What a surprise that talk shows with recognized names on megastations that are parts of meganetworks are beating a smaller start-up with new names, relegated to whatever low-rent frequencies remain available. That's truly a victory.). And because of that, I'm not sure that the inability of Air America to crack the ratings monolith is a clear representation of the general viewpoint of the American public.
All those who are "mega" whatevers, as you say, didn't start that way. Face it, no left wing anything has succeeded on the airwaves.

The giddiness about the apparently imminent demise of Air America strikes me as much ado about nothing.
That's good.

[IcemanCometh]

you're about as crazy as nbadan

[Ocotillo]

Michelle Malkin? Internment Camps Michelle? The Michelle Malkin who is generally disavowed by many on the right?

Is this shilling anything like say....."The Limbaugh Letter"?

[FromWayDowntown]

No, it just shows how bankrupt is the ideology of the left.
Left wing newspapers are suffering the same fate. As are left wing television news programs.

I'm wondering when the left is gonna wake up and smell the conservative bent of America.

All those who are "mega" whatevers, as you say, didn't start that way. Face it, no left wing anything has succeeded on the airwaves.

Some rather broad assertions to be making from a relatively insignificant result in a saturated marketplace. The megastations (i.e., WOAI with 50,000 watts) are owned by meganetworks (i.e., Clear Channel Communications) which own the prime broadcasting frequencies available. They didn't start that way, but they've had a substantial head start in the propagation of political talk radio. To say that the demise of Air America is somehow a failure of the Left's ideology as a whole seems overly simplistic (though oversimplification rarely stops the Right in much these days) in light of the real market forces at play in this situation. It's a bit like saying that an independent newspaper's failure to unseat the New York Times is a victory for the Times. It's more like a representation of the fact that it's somewhat difficult for an underfunded enterprise to make inroads against large, established corporations in a limited marketplace.

[Yonivore]

Some rather broad assertions to be making from a relatively insignificant result in a saturated marketplace. The megastations (i.e., WOAI with 50,000 watts) are owned by meganetworks (i.e., Clear Channel Communications) which own the prime broadcasting frequencies available. They didn't start that way, but they've had a substantial head start in the propagation of political talk radio. To say that the demise of Air America is somehow a failure of the Left's ideology as a whole seems overly simplistic (though oversimplification rarely stops the Right in much these days) in light of the real market forces at play in this situation. It's a bit like saying that an independent newspaper's failure to unseat the New York Times is a victory for the Times. It's more like a representation of the fact that it's somewhat difficult for an underfunded enterprise to make inroads against large, established corporations in a limited marketplace.
Funny you should mention the Times...they appear on the brink of folding as well. Another liberal icon.

[Spurminator]

Air America's target demographic simply doesn't listen to Talk Radio. That simple.

It's like trying to open a 700 Club-themed Vegan Diner.

[FromWayDowntown]

Funny you should mention the Times...they appear on the brink of folding as well. Another liberal icon.

Again, bad analysis without addressing any of the real points.

The Times, like most major newspapers, may suffer some from those who see it as slanted, but the newspaper industry as a whole is becoming outmoded by the proliferation of instant news sites on television, radio, and the internet.

If we take your premise, say, that CBS is liberally slanted, I'll buy your position if CBS News goes out of business. Until then, we're seeing market forces work: a shifting the means by which news is delivered (instantly, rather than a day late) and the inability of underfunded efforts to prevail in an extremely limited marketplace (radio).

[Yonivore]

Air America's target demographic simply doesn't listen to Talk Radio. That simple.
How fucking stupid is that? That's like saying, "I think I'll start a national restaurant chain at which no one will dine."

Oh wait, you said that.

[FromWayDowntown]

sadly, because of people like yonivore who prefer to pick and choose news on tv or the interent that is slanted towards their political views, most major newspapers around the nation are in deep shit

Don't bother him (or Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or others like them) with facts and analytical reasoning from those facts.

After all, what good are facts and analysis when hot rhetoric can carry the day?

[Spurminator]

It's not because of Yonivore (and people on the Right certainly aren't the only ones who pick and choose their news sources)... It's because print is becoming an obsolete medium.

Seriously, why would most people, particularly young people who were raised with computers, PAY to read on gigantic, smudgy paper what they can read on the Internet for free?

[FromWayDowntown]

It's not because of Yonivore (and people on the Right certainly aren't the only ones who pick and choose their news sources)... It's because print is becoming an obsolete medium.

Seriously, why would most people, particularly young people who were raised with computers, PAY to read on gigantic, smudgy paper what they can read on the Internet for free?

yeah, what spurm said:


The Times, like most major newspapers, may suffer some from those who see it as slanted, but the newspaper industry as a whole is becoming outmoded by the proliferation of instant news sites on television, radio, and the internet.

[SpursWoman]

How fucking stupid is that? That's like saying, "I think I'll start a national restaurant chain at which no one will dine."

Oh wait, you said that.


Why is that stupid? I fucking hate talk radio shows. The only thing I've ever come close to listening to on the radio that wasn't music is Kori when she's on Game Night React or whatever...and that's only because she's my friend.

[SpursWoman]

sadly, because of people like yonivore who prefer to pick and choose news on tv or the interent that is slanted towards their political views, most major newspapers around the nation are in deep shit


That's limited to conservatives/republicans? That by singling out Yonivore, and not specifically mentioning NBADan as well...because you like to think the way he does...that you're not one of "those" people?

I love irony. :lol

[FromWayDowntown]

That's limited to conservatives/republicans?

No. But's that the point, I think. It's not just conservatives/republicans that are turning to other sources for news/analysis. So to say that the failure of media outlets is somehow indicative that a particular viewpoint is prevailing seems to me to skip some steps.

[Spurminator]

And at the same time, Clear Channel is just looking out for themselves. Not that anyone has suggested CC is pushing Conservative views on the masses in this thread (yet), but it's the nature of talk news radio. It's purpose is to hit the older demographic so that advertisers who have older-skewing products can advertise on those stations.

Clear Channel has also changed a lot of its Rock format stations to Hispanic formats... are they "pushing" Hispanic Music on the public?

This is a pre-emptive strike to the inevitable CC bashing in this thread. I don't like them either, but for different reasons.

[Marcus Bryant]

Funny you should mention the Times...they appear on the brink of folding as well. Another liberal icon.

The New York Times' equity hasn't performed that great, to say the least, but I think they are quite a bit away from seeking bankruptcy protection.

[FromWayDowntown]

And at the same time, Clear Channel is just looking out for themselves. Not that anyone has suggested CC is pushing Conservative views on the masses in this thread (yet), but it's the nature of talk news radio. It's purpose is to hit the older demographic so that advertisers who have older-skewing products can advertise on those stations.

Clear Channel has also changed a lot of its Rock format stations to Hispanic formats... are they "pushing" Hispanic Music on the public?

This is a pre-emptive strike to the inevitable CC bashing in this thread. I don't like them either, but for different reasons.

To be clear -- my point here isn't to bash Clear Channel for anything. It's just to say that it was always going to be difficult for Air America to unseat Clear Channel (and other large media conglomerates) which owns so much of a limited market.

[Spurminator]

I agree with you FWD, I just sense the other argument forthcoming. My knee is cramping. ;)

[Marcus Bryant]

I have to say that I don't really understand conservatism's fastidious interest in seeing that Air America fails. Is it an interest in assuring that the Right has some sort of talking head viewpoint monopoly? Is it more like the interest in watching a car wreck? Is it just a sublime hatred of the people who have air time on the network.

I mean, it's not as if this has ever really been a fair competition (I mean, wow! What a surprise that talk shows with recognized names on megastations that are parts of meganetworks are beating a smaller start-up with new names, relegated to whatever low-rent frequencies remain available. That's truly a victory.). And because of that, I'm not sure that the inability of Air America to crack the ratings monolith is a clear representation of the general viewpoint of the American public.

The giddiness about the apparently imminent demise of Air America strikes me as much ado about nothing.


It's out of the same vein as what motivated those on the left to hope for Rush Limbaugh's demise. Air America is an arm of the other "side" and accordingly must be destroyed at all costs.

I know I haven't imagined some on the left obsessing about Limbaugh's popularity.

[FromWayDowntown]

It's out of the same vein as what motivated those on the left to hope for Rush Limbaugh's demise. Air America is an arm of the other "side" and accordingly must be destroyed at all costs.

I know I haven't imagined some on the left obsessing about Limbaugh's popularity.

I don't disagree, but I do think that while Air America and Limbaugh may be similar in kind, they are not similar in degree.

But even if they were, I don't think that I would see the deposing of Limbaugh as some sort of ironclad proof that the Left had carried the day and that the ideas of the Right had been wholly rejected by the public. It's a marketplace that is subject to all sorts of market forces, only one of which is viewpoint acceptance. I've listened to Limbaugh, but I don't agree with much of anything that he says. Does my listenership somehow prove the superiority of conservative ideas? Of course not. It could mean that I didn't want to listen to music, the Astros, or local talk radio. It could also mean that I wanted to hear what was being said by those with whom I disagree -- not so that I'll be swayed to agree with them, though.

It's not a zero sum game, despite Yoni's wishes that it would be that.

[Vashner]

I think Al Franken is great.. the more points of views on the radio the better...

I also want to hump Garafalo... and HARD too..

[Yonivore]

The New York Times' equity hasn't performed that great, to say the least, but I think they are quite a bit away from seeking bankruptcy protection.
I guess you haven't been following the news...

Dropping circulation, laid off 500+, internal discussions to be more fair an balanced in Iraq reporting...

No doubt about it, the Old Grey Lady is feeling their liberal bent coming back to bite them.

[Spurminator]

Since when has laying off 4% of your staff been a necessary precursor of filing for bankrupcy?

[Vashner]

They don't need those staff because they don't cover both sides of any story.

If your a Bush attack machine a handfull of people reporting the same things over and over again.. of course you cut staff... You only cover 1 side of things...

[ChumpDumper]

It's true -- The NYT circulation dropped off a devastating 0.3% in 2004.

[Spurminator]

The Dallas Morning News circulation has dropped 9% (13% Sunday) from last year.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB111499919608621875-72vA7sUkzSQ76dPiTXytqgOMS5A_20050601,00.html?mod=b logs

[Marcus Bryant]

I guess you haven't been following the news...

Dropping circulation, laid off 500+, internal discussions to be more fair an balanced in Iraq reporting...

No doubt about it, the Old Grey Lady is feeling their liberal bent coming back to bite them.


I don't need to follow the news. I just took a look at their financials and they are nowhere close to being insolvent.

[Yonivore]

I don't need to follow the news. I just took a look at their financials and they are nowhere close to being insolvent.
They lie...about circulation and about their finances...it'll catch up to them.

They've probably got Jayson Blair in the Accounting office now.

[FromWayDowntown]

I don't need to follow the news. I just took a look at their financials and they are nowhere close to being insolvent.

Looks like Yoni's political spank bank needs some new assets.

[ChumpDumper]

They lie.What a great argument. I'll just say that you lie and finish it.

[Vashner]

NYT does not even need a staff.. they just do whatever Moveon.org says...