When Air America was first launched, I immediately signed up. Although our local Pacifica station (WBAI-FM) still owns my heart, I knew we needed lots of solid med
ia coverage NOT beholding to the corporate mouthpieces.
When Air America began having financial problems, I pitched in, despite my own dicey employment status, and became a “premium” member. Some years after the fact, I have yet to know what benefits were granted other than letting the suits know there is a serious fan base in NYC. [BTW--if you did sign on for a premium, better check to see if they took your money "automatically" for a renewal, without informing you! That happened to me and began my disenfranchisement with the station.]
Al Franken's show was entertaining but when he left, The Thom Hartmann Show took his place and I couldn't have been happier. His program is a beacon of enlightenment in a swamp of news sludge and double speak. However, the local New York station, WWRL, has taken Thom off the air, replacing him with a show that the station management owns, The Ed Shultz Show. [hmmmm, conflict of interest?]
For radical, progressive New Yorkers, this is such a big comedown it's as if Thom was replaced by Alan Colmes! Ed Schultz just doesn’t get us and I’ve lost patience with trying to get him.
My personal radio goddess, Randi Rhodes has joined the fabulous Mike Malloy on Nova M, which I downstream on my computer. Thankfully, Thom's there, too, and I will continue to hear him via Nova M. But what about folks who don’t have computers or prefer turning on the radio?
So the call is going out to you, friends and citizens, even if you are not NYC residents. You can contact our local program managers at WWRL during the daytime, at 212-631-0800, and let them know what
you think.
Another way to get the message through is by using WWRL’s web page contact info:
General Phone Number: 212 631 0800
Address: 333 Seventh Avenue New York, NY 10001
WWRL Radio Sales: 212 631 0800 ext. 151 Please contact pcaesar@wwrl1600.com
1600 WWRL Programming: To ask a question or make a comment about WWRL’s Programming in general, please email Program Director, Rennie Bishop at bishop@wwrl1600.com
And here is WWRL's link for YOU to post topics you want to talk about:
http://www.wwrl1600.com/talkabout.asp
Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss!
June 6, 2008
Air America Dumps It's Hart[mann]
April 25, 2008
Deconstructing Randi
Road Sage says it quite well, touching on all the ambivalence and frustration and resignation and I-knew-it-was-coming-tion. And you knew, too. Read Road:
Randi Rhodes & Her Eff’ing Adjectives!
Rhodes Quits Air America and how might we think of this outcome.
By Road Sage
She pushed the envelope. It was her style.
And it was her personality to get indignant –but mostly about things that mattered. But sometimes her anima would not let things go—once she got her brain’s wires wrapped around it. She just had to follow her dendritic synapses to wherever they led.
And of course she was one who could tell the blatant and unmitigated truth. No mealy-mouther her. No—not Randi Rhodes. But that is why people listened to her—she would often say what other flocks of angels feared not tread. Yeah she had courage and gallantry for a sense of justice—for sure.
That is why she is valuable to a truth-starved society like ours. She could wake people up—that is if she is not upsetting
them too much.
But then she called Hillary Clinton a “f**king” whore at a speech event in the Frisco Bay area. It got on the Internet via YouTube and made a splash—daring. So when the stuff it the fan her bosses at Air America suspended her “indefinitely” over the mouthy flap.
Then she quits her radio talk show host job at Air America.
[...] But what is not so amazing is that the mainstream media actually printed the story of Rhodes quitting her job at Air America! Normally the mainstream does not much recognize her. Could it be then that America did in fact get the message about Clinton being a war-mongering prostitute and that this could add to the eventual death knell for Hillary’s campaign?
But even more importantly, Randi Rhodes has passion and commitment—even if sometimes headstrong. Passion, awareness and commitment is something far too lacking in much of mainstream America—which seems non-committed like Camus’ character Meursault in his book The Stranger. It seems that most Americans, in general, are under developed in the potential for being humanely socialized to be aware and human. Some have noted that even saints have at times acted with faults, and although few would claim Randi a saint, at least most could say: “thank you Ms. Randi Rhodes for caring a great deal. And thank you for your imperfect self—at least you are out there fighting for a difference”.
April 11, 2008
Dueling Press Releases
It's a mixed bag, a tossed salad, as it were of radio operatics ("ga ga"'s 
been done) as our heroine, Randi gets tossed overboard for using her First Amendment (are you with me, Rev. Billy?) righteous voice to say what she (gassssp) t h i n k s ! But she's found a new home, joining the equally impressive and funny Mike Malloy on Nova M.
But now, at least for a month, those of us without access to Nova M can ring them bells with.............Richard Belzer on Air America! [conspiracy, anyone?]
Air America to Feature Celebrity Drive-Time Guest Hosts-Richard Belzer Kicks Off Series Starting Monday April 14 during the 3-6
The programs launch with noted comedian, author and actor Richard Belzer, well-known for his work as Det. John Munch on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and numerous other movie and TV roles. Belzer will be joined by special guests to be announced, bringing an entertaining, fast-paced and engaging afternoon listening experience to Air America Radio audiences nationwide all next week.
and from Nova M Radio...
Randi Rhodes is the #1 rat
ed progressive talk radio host in the nation.
Nova M CEO John Manzo says, “I just can’t stop smiling - Randi is simply the biggest and the best. Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy under one roof – talk about TALENT!”
Randi Rhodes adds, “With Manzo at helm of Nova M, I am truly going to work for the best of the best. He is radio elite…and I am too
“The Randi Rhodes Show” will air live Mon-Fri from 3-6pm Eastern on The Nova M Radio Network.
ABOUT RANDI RHODES
Randi Rhodes is a radio pioneer who put Progressive Talk Radio on the national stage when everyone told her it could not be done. This Brooklyn native became a national talk radio hero to millions when in 2004 she left South Florida radio, where she had the #1 ranked talk show in her market, for national syndication. Randi started her radio odyssey quite modestly by playing ‘classic country’ in a storefront studio in Seminole, TX but today holds the mantle of the #1 progressive talk show host in the nation. Randi is impeccably researched and infectiously funny, she starred in the HBO documentary “Left of the Dial”, is listed in Talkers Magazine’s “Heavy Hundred” and is probably watching C-SPAN right now.
http://www.novamradio.com/
Good luck, Randi. You are a working class hero. Rock on!
April 10, 2008
Righteous Rachel Races to the White House!
While Air America Radio flounders over Randi Rhodes' suspension and the fury of us listeners who are missin' her, there is one good story coming out from under their large, controlling, liberally-feathery wing, and that's Rachel Maddow's ability to charm, be herself and promote the best of what progressive is about.
By Rory O'Connor, AlterNet. Posted April 10, 2008.
As the seemingly endless Democratic presidential primary slog enters its second spring, one amazing woman has managed -- by relentless dint of hard work, long experience, sharp intelligence, quick wit, quicker quips and a winning smile -- to shatter the glass ceiling and take her rightful place in the traditional boys' club of big-time politics.
No, not her -- Rachel Maddow!
That's right -- a woman who calls herself "a supplicant who worships in the Temple of Journalism" -- but who others have described as "Amy Goodman with animal noises" -- is now firmly ensconced in the upper echelon of the political punditocracy. With her own rising radio show on Air America, coupled with regular appearances on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann program, where she is often, oddly and excellently paired with Patrick Buchanan, this self-described "35-year-old, liberal, lesbian girl-who-looks-like-a-man" is on the brink of becoming progressive media's next mainstream breakout star. One significant measure of Maddow's new-found favor: the decision by MSNBC, effective next week, to hire her as a regular panelist on its newest nightly campaign program Race for the White House -- and to allow Air America to simulcast the 6 p.m. nightly program as the first hour of its own nightly Rachel Maddow show.
[...] Rachel Maddow is nothing if not clear -- about the distinctions between news, opinion and entertainment, but also about her own distinct beliefs, politics, and persona, and about where progressive media may be heading. "I think the more power the Democrats gain, the better off progressive radio and progressive media is," she concluded. "I felt like I was outside banging on a locked door when Republicans were in power seemingly everywhere. But the closer we get to retaking the country, the closer we get to overtaking the traditional media in terms of content and influence."
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/81912/
April 3, 2008
Air America is a Big Fucking Whore!
Liberals cannot take a joke. Clearly, the censors at Air America were more concerned they might lose corporate funding than growing their audience. Just watch the video and you'll see the crowd was intensly responsive. As for use of the "fuck" word, Randi's a veteran, what the hell did they expect?!!! I'd just like to know where this happened, the context, etc.
From The Huffington Post:
Air America host Randi Rhodes called both Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton "whores" in a recent appearance, seen below. Rhodes, who hosts a weekday radio show on Air America, said to the cheering crowd, "What a whore Geraldine Ferraro is! She's such a fucking whore!" She then proceeded to say, "Hillary is a big fucking whore, too" to a mixed audience reaction. "You know why she's a big fucking whore? Because her deal is always, 'Read the fine print, asshole!'"
Watch:
November 21, 2007
NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative
Did you know New Yorker City voters can create a process for social and political progress based on principles of “Direct Democracy” to obtain a new, independent investigation of the most impactful event of our time, the attacks of 9/11?
Come and learn about the NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative to create a new, independent, honest investigation of 9/11. See how in 2008 YOU can be a catalyst for truth in government and comprehensive, positive change leading to peace and progress.
Speakers include:
Dr. William Pepper – international attorney, author of "An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King, Jr."
Ray McGovern – former CIA analyst, founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Lorie Van Auken – “Jersey widow”, driving force who pressured the Bush Administration into creating the 9/11 Commission
Christine Ebersole – Award-winning actress and advocate for truth on 9/11
Richard Greene – Host of "Clout" on Air America Radio
Kathy Davis – Public Affairs Director, WBAI and advocate for truth on 9/11
Frank Morales – Episcopal priest, recipient of “2007 Project Censored Award”
http://www.ny911truth.org/