Comments on The Liberal Media

i wonder if liberals, tending to be urban--and thus more high-tech--are more likely to look to the blogosphere for news and satire, rather than the radio dial. or maybe republicans are just better at making money.

Every time I listened to Air America and wanted to laugh, they failed to have anything funny. In fact, it was cringe inducing. I don't know why conservatives tend to love radio so much, but I'm glad atleast we libs have learned what we are not so good at.

Let's not make excuses about conservatives, money, power, etc. The Daily Show rocks, Air America simply sucked. People seem to know that. Good riddance.

Air America isn't going anywhere. They've filed for bankruptcy protection from their creditors during which they'll restructure their debt. There are other backers of progressive radio out there and other progressive hosts, so even if Air America were to leave the national scene, this would not spell the doom of radio of this sort.

Air America's problem was/is that it's bad radio. Franken, for all of his enthusiasm and knowledge, makes a terrible radio host and most of his gags, like most of his SNL stuff, are simply bad. Listening to him is like listening to the talk guys I used to have on my college radio. They also spent too much money on Franken at the detriment of the other shows, building him a new studio and relocating him to Minnesota so he can explore his Senate possibilities.

Randi Rhodes is excellent. Sam Seder had potential, but is only now exploring sans Garrafolo (who was terrible most of the time). Jerry Springer was, well, Springer without the fights.

What the network needs is someone who can spot, hire, and keep radio talent rather than just seek out names.

Air America isn't all bad, and theirs is a voice that desperately needs to be heard. Stephanie Miller in the morning is great. Snarky and funny and appeals to a wide array of different people because her show contains a ton of good substance, delivered in a typical morning radio format.

Although Al Franken's show may not be terribly funny or glitzy, I would argue that it has the most political substance and intelligence of ANY radio out there today, including NPR. Plus, I love how he hands Fox News its ass on a regular basis. It is talk radio for those with an attention span longer than a first grader's, which I understand is fairly rare.

Air America helped me stay reasonably sane during an 11-month tenure in red America, but there's no denying that left-wing talk radio falls prey to the same shortcomings of right-wing talk radio.

Namely: talk radio is stupid. Boring, too.

The success of right-wing radio can be attibuted to the undeniable fact that rural bumpkins enjoy stupid, boring circle jerks. Selling Rush Limbaugh to that audience is easier than selling Old Milwaukee Light and Marlboro to the same crowd.

Air America isn't all bad, and theirs is a voice that desperately needs to be heard.

See, the second half of the statement I can agree with, but that is just an excuse for the first portion. Translation: "Air America isn't very good, but I'll put up with mediocrity just so I can have some talk radio that more closely reflects my views and counters those nuts on the right."

Well, that doesn't cut it. While I agree that Franken is knowledgeable, he doesn't make for good entertainment. There are times when you hear the man groping for a point and it's painful. Limbaugh, like or not (and I loathe him) is slick and professional while Franken is not.

And, really, Rhodes spends more time on the air dissecting an issue than Franken does. And I like Rachel Maddow much of the time. She's professional and talented as well. They fired Mike Malloy and he was one of their better talents.

The problem isn't that talk radio is conservative, it's that talk radio is TALK RADIO. It's designed to give voice to inflammatory shitheads. The liberal response to conservative talk radio isn't liberal talk radio, it's NO TALK RADIO.

The listener call-in portions of NPR are usually the worst parts by far. About the only exception I've ever heard is Christopher Lydon's "The Connection", because he usually has real guests who are knowledgeable about something, not politicians or the usual commentators, and the callers are obviously screened for intelligence and coherence. Normal talk radio, left or right, is screened AGAINST intelligence and coherence.

Listening to Air America is like blowing your brains out with a blue gun instead of a red one.

Conservative Talk Radio tends to go something like this:

HOST: I believe in THIS.
Caller: You're right!
H: I know I am.
Caller2: You're wrong!
H: Moron!

Liberal Talk Radio tends to go something like this:

HOST: I believe in THIS except in certain, outstanding cases.
Caller: You're right.
H: Thanks, but don't you feel that those exceptions really prove the rule.
[hours later]
Caller2: You're wrong!
H: Well, now when I said that I believed that THIS, I meant it with the caveat that...
[hours later]
Caller2: You're still wrong!

And I say this as something of a liberal, although lately their actions have me afraid of my own side.

Fox News, which just turned ten, hemorrhaged money for the first seven years or so. Unfortunately, Air America doesn't have the pockets of Rupert Murdoch, But I suspect they'll pull through anyway. I think what they are trying to do is shed their debt onto their old company, and move forward with a new one.

As far as the programming goes, I enjoy Franken's program. He's a little nasal, and a little corny, but that's OK with me. Certainly much better than the snoozefests that KUOW is airing these days.

Randi Rhodes is good as well. She does her homework and knows her shit. And Rachel Maddow's program is hands down the best daily news program on the radio.

I also like "Ring of Fire" with Robert Kennedy Jr, and Mike Pappantonio.

Stephanie Miller and Ed Schultz, by the way, are not Air America programs. They are distributed by the Jones Radio Network, and are played on many different stations.

I listen to Air America regularly, not for entertainment per se, but to keep on top of politics. I find a lot of what I hear is fascinating, and I think it's important to learn and keep on top of these things. I realize there is a liberal slant to what is often said, but I'm a smart cookie and can roll with that.

Though syndicated through AAR, I love the Thom Hartmann Show. The man is brilliant! I also enjoy Rhandi Rhoades. I know she goes off on tangents, but for some people they really need it beaten into their heads to get it, and she succeeds at that.

I hope that AAR stays on the air, but if they don't, I hope it won't affect am1090.

I agree, talk radio is a natural forum for fringe players, that's why I listen usually. But AAR is flat sometimes, and it's funny to hear people praise the hosts that are simply not good at all.

People LOVE Thom Hartman, who blathers on in a boring monotone voice about the Teapot Dome scandal or the railroad magnates of the 1800s. The man is permanently stuck in the past.

Mike Malloy is a fucking child. He shouts and calls people names and has nothing of any substance to say. And he bitches about the same things every day. They could record one week's worth of shows and just run them on a loop and his hard-core fans would never notice. They'd be too busy waiting to hear him call GWB a "son of a bitch" or "little bastard" at the top of his voice to notice. Good riddance, Mike.

#1 nailed it. We're into the give and take media of the internet for political analysis. There is no real give and take with radio: you just listen to someone else talk, with no input from the audience (phone calls, which are screened and an overlong pain in the ass to make, don't really count).

We want to participate, not to listen to some blowhard run his/her mouth. Air America didn't even seem like that great of an idea when it debuted. Air America was destined to fail.

Air America is officially bankrupt.

GOOD!

i wonder if liberals, tending to be urban--and thus more high-tech--are more likely to look to the blogosphere for news and satire, rather than the radio dial. or maybe republicans are just better at making money. I disagree go to http://www.apartments.waw.pl