March 31, 2004
Air America On the Air
Today at noon, Air America, the liberal radio network, will go on the air, with Al Franken's daily show, "The O'Franken Factor." The Times looks at how the ambitions to bring a liberal voice to radio have outpaced the realities (Air America hasn't bought any stations yet - it's just bought time on five stations) as well as how the network's personalities have to remain enterataining as it competes with conservative voices Rush "Oxy-Contin" Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. The line-up includes former Daily Show-er Lizz Winstead, Chuck D of Public Enemy, and Janeane Garofalo. Times reporter Jacques Steinberg notes some of the humor thus far:
Among others, Ms. Garofalo and [nighttime host Sam] Seder poked fun at Mr. Bush's former spokesman Ari Fleischer ("Is he not shoveling coal in hell now?" Mr. Seder asked); Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser and political strategist (said by Ms. Garofalo to be pursuing "the elusive 18-25 Klan demo"); and Vice President Dick Cheney. (Mr. Seder said he felt sure that he could see Mr. Cheney's hand moving Mr. Bush's mouth on "Meet the Press" earlier this year.)Ah, political joking.
In NY, the network airs on WLIB 1190AM (LA: KBLA 180AM; Chicago: WNTD 950AM). The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz looked at Air America a few weeks ago. Jeff Jarvis has been listening and says, "I'm tuning into the start of Air America and all I'm hearing so far is a medly of bad rock appropriate for rallies." Well, the station probably doesn't want to be confused with Air America, the airplane pilot "comedy" with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr.
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Oooh, Jen, Glad you posted about this! Franken was on Stern yesterday and was great. It's good to have a little more news from the other side. Regardless of ones political views, it's always good to hear other peoples take on things...
Also a note for people without radio access at work or viewing from another state, there is supposed to be an internet stream, but the details at the site say to check back. Hopefully they'll be up before noon.
A few points:
1) The reason rightist talkradio radio is popular is that it's an alternative to the leftist dominance of most of the TV news departments and newspapers.
2) Air America doesn't fill any unoccupied niche - lefties already have NPR on the radio.
3) Lefties have a delusion that conservative talk radio is "hateful". Aside from possibly Bob Grant or at times Michael Savage, this isn't true. So if Franken misjudges the tone of his rhetoric, to try to match the "hate" he mistakenly senses from Rush Limbaugh (just a big teddy bear), he will very possibly end his own career.
4) I predict Air America will fail by Labor Day.
"the leftist dominance of most of the TV news departments and newspapers"
what papers are you reading and what news are you watching? THe Daily News? The Post? USA today? FOx news? NBC? THe NEw York Times? The Bush administration has been handled with kid gloves by all the major newspaper and tv news departments up until a few weeks ago. The Nation is leftist, the NYT is middle-of -the -road and only someone with seriously lacking reading skills or an agenda to smear any news outlet that prints anything that questions the actions of the president would confuse or pretend to confuse the two. Yes, the NYT has Paul Krugman and Maureen Dowd. They also have William Safire and David Brooks, as well as an often conservative editorial board The NYT has printed numerous editorials that excuse the president's rush to war with Iraq by placing the blame on poor intelligence. A leftist paper would put the blame onthe president b/c us lefties believe that the evidence points to the administration always wanting to bomb iraq and using intelligence it knew already was no good to justify it.
fyi: i think this is a better link to the radio station.
it is not just the intro page. it has links to the various programs and to listen via real playa.
We don't need Air America. We have Stern, News Radio, Hot 97... and soon to be back on the airwaves, Opie And Anthony. WOW
"Lefties already have NPR on the radio."
It's funny how in-depth, balanced news reporting (i.e. news that presents both sides of an issue or seeks to report on a viewpoint neglected by your Fox Newses, et al) is seen as the domain of "lefties".
there's no such thing as fair and balanced news. From anywhere.
I agree with James. But have you checked out foxnews.com in the 'Out There' section?
I'm surprised Jeff Jarvis isn't better informed. They didn't go on the air today until 12 PM with Franken's show. Before 12, the station was the bad music he was talking about, but at 12 on the dot, Franken came on.
is the internet stream crapping out on everyone too?
using the kpoj 620 stream from portland, or. no problems.
I think it's funny that they've decided to name a Left-Wing radio station after a movie starring Right-Winger Mel Gibson.
nick,
Yes, the live stream is techically challanged. Either they have not worked out the bugs or too many people trying to listen in ...
I also had problems with the stream from the main site, but it's streaming fine via KPOJ 620. Go Portland! ;-)
The only people in America who deny that the media in general, or NPR or the NY Times in particular, are left-leaning are hardcore, blinders-wearing leftists. It's obvious to everyone else.
If you can't see it, what that means is that you have so thoroughly surrounded yourself with people who think just like you, that you are oblivious to the diversity of thought in this country. And shame on you for that.
The movement to create a liberal radio network, I believe, is similar to the effort to get veggie burgers into McDonalds. And the results will be similar. The veggie burger is still on the menu, but it's difficult to get vegetarians into the joint to actually order it. Air America will hang around but liberals will continue to tune into NPR or get their news from newspapers and the Internet.
Coolfer hopes it does well, as AM radio could use a large dose of liberalism to balance out the domination of the right. Equal time is good for everybody. But I don't expect much.
left - right - heck I don't even know which refers to what... but perhaps Sterling, can't it also be that you have surrounded yourself with people who think just like you, that you are oblivious to any other opinion being right but your own?
The NYT has been tripping over themselves for years now, overcompensating for an old stereotype (based on shoddy polling techniques) that the media was liberal. It wasn't the case then, and it certainly isn't the case now.
Eric Alterman's What Liberal Media corrects the record on all of this.
Sterling, darling, your talking points need updating, they're getting stale. Put down the Sean Hannity vanity book, and read something by someone who has done actual research. ok?
Sterling, the two top-selling newspapers (based on circulation) are USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. It would be ridiculous to say that these are liberal publications, but is that what you're claiming? Fox News' extreme right-wing cable channel has the overall lead in the cable news ratings. Under Ailes' leadership, have they suddenly become left-wing? Please, Sterling, do more than just amuse me -- as you have so often in the past. Instead, tell me where this liberal bias is? Is it in broadcast TV news? Crap! It's that Brokaw fella, right?
"In NY, the network airs on WLIB 1190AM"
The fact that "Air America" has taken over a long-standing/popular NYC station geared towards the Caribean community is a bit disturbing. It's as if white liberals are more important than other people exploring their culture.
I like the theorhetical concept of "Air America", but taken as a practical station it sounds like a one trick pony that might not really last at all. And it helped evict a decent NYC station such as WLIB. Waste of time and space.
Yeah, the idea that there's a liberal bias in the mainstream media is laughable--probably based on the fact that some of the mainstream stations report facts ONCE in a while. Other than that, though, they basically eat what's fed them by the Bush administration. Go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/ and read the press briefings; the questions get asked, but rarely (straight) answered, and when they are answered no one within the news organizations seems to follow up. No one wants to piss off an administration so secretive and evasive, for fear they'll be frozen out of what little information they do get, I guess. Plus, the deceptions of the Bush administration aren't salacious enough for most people, they only involve false pretenses for war, fear-mongering, manipulation of intelligence, etc., rather than cigars and interns...
Ditto coolfer.
Seems to me that liberals are more educated/critical and seek out diverse media outlets to create their own balance, where righties want their vitriol spoon-fed by loud-talking old white guys... (do the righties even take ann coulter seriously?)
my real problem with the o'franken factor is that it wasn't that good/informative/entertaining/funny. did anyone else think that? i hope it gets better.
i thought the part where michael moore apologized to al gore about nader was hilarious.
"my real problem with the o'franken factor is that it wasn't that good/informative/entertaining/funny. did anyone else think that? i hope it gets better."
Exactly. Truth be told but "Air America" is painfully boring and uninteresting even to people who like what they are trying to discuss. I give it 1 year.
Even if Sterling is right in his points, this Franken show is incredibly boring. He was funny on SNL. He's been funny before this show. Now, I want to take a nap. If this is Air America's heavy hitter, they've got problems. Please, someone, get me some coffee.
lastpickedindodgeball: "...Sterling, can't it also be that you have surrounded yourself with people who think just like you, that you are oblivious to any other opinion being right but your own?"
Nope. Check my Friendster testimonials: http://www.friendster.com/user.jsp?id=119091
Matt: Eric Alterman is an open leftist partisan. Read middle-of-the-roader former CBS reporter Bernard Goldberg's _Bias_ for a better view.
Ajit: The Wall Street Journal's editorial page is rightist, but the news division is leftist. And do you think Peter Jennings, Dan Rathey and Tom Brokaw get their news from The New York Times, the WSJ or USA Today?
Ryan: The U. of Michigan General Social Survey (GSS), probably the most authoritative benchmark of social attitudes and composition in the US, has since at least 1992 shown a pronounced tendency for Republicans to be better educated than Democrats.
Bottom line: The very fact that so many of you bristle so much about one moderate Republican like Rush Limbaugh having a voice in the media, or one conservative news network against four or five leftist networks, shows that your expectation of media is that it be left of center.
LA: 1580 AM
Thanks for the friendster link! We now know what an ass looks like!
Sterling-
Identifying Rush Limbaugh as a "moderate republican" doesn't do much for your credibility.
Sterling: I'll grant that Alterman is a partisan, but stating that Goldberg is middle-of-the-road proves my point. He's not.
Alterman did research. Godberg, Coulter et al write from the top of their heads. Apples and oranges.
And as for your point about network anchors being lefties, so what? Until Dan Rather owns CBS, his bias pales in comparison to that of Viacom, GE, and Disney. Ever looked at campaign contributions of media execs? It's no contest.
did sterling's post about goldberg? i didn't read it but he obvs posted one as matt replied to it - what did it say? was it deleted? i'm just trying to follow the discussion.
my bad i just reread and found it. it was too late to cancel my previous post. i'm dumb. sowwy.
great points matt and ryan. brokow and jennings are not considered left-wing at all.
sterling, i'm assuming that you agree with my earlier points that the newspaper with the highest circulation and the cable news channel with the largest following are not liberal, which would mean that your earlier comment, that "The only people in America who deny that the media in general, or NPR or the NY Times in particular, are left-leaning are hardcore, blinders-wearing leftists. It's obvious to everyone else." is wrong. but thanks for showing me how paranoid you are, especially when faced with facts.
Matt - If you want research, go to Accuracy in Media - they've been documenting left-leaning bias in the media for decades. Goldberg wrote about experiences in his several-decades long career at CBS.
Ryan - Rush Limbaugh is a chamber-of-commerce Republican. His views are well within the mainstream. If they were not - how do you suppose he could have built a listener base of 20 million in midday, what used to be considered throwaway time by radio stations? He's on vacation this week, I think, but maybe you should take some time to listen to him?
What you might find is that you object not very much to what he SAYS, but that you are irritated by the CONTEXT and ASSUMPTIONS he brings to the table. The TOPICS he chooses, and the way he FRAMES those topics might annoy you. And I hope you enjoy the experience, because that's what it was like to be a conservative in America before talk radio and the Internet, watching TV news or reading a newspaper.
Ajit - Don't play games. The New York Times is the most influential newspaper in America, and it is very much a left-leaning outlet. Granted, it was worse under Howell Raines, but it's still out there.
The reason Fox News has become the most popular broadcast network is that it is an alternative to the Pravda-esque leftism that earlier prevailed on TV news. Since Fox's ascent, MSNBC has moved to a centrist point, and CNBC's off-market coverage probably always was basically centrist. But CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS were and remain left-leaning.
And Brokaw and Jennings are not considered left-leaning? By whom? Brokaw is apparently one of Kerry's short-listers for vice-president, for crying out loud, and he's the most centrist Big-3 anchorman in HISTORY!
(Whoops - I meant that Fox News is a cable news network, not a broadcast network.)
Have to agree with Sterling.
Even a cursory glace at the New York Times shows its (slight) bias. I do not think the NYT's bias is as explicit and unrepentent as FOX News, but has more to do with the fact that most journalists (print, at least) are democrats and, unwittingly or not, that bias comes through to a certain degree.
As much of a fan of NPR and its "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", it too leans left. The choice of stories, who is interview, the amount of time to a particular viewpoint, etc. Again, like the NYT (and unlike FOX News), I do not think it is an agenda.
As someone said earlier, all media is biased. As long as the reader/watcher/listener is aware of that, and takes ANY story with a little grain of salt, the 'bias' is relatively harmless.
MSNBC: Scarborough (former republican congressman) and chris matthews (former dem now in the administration's pocket)
CNBC: Kudlow (former Reagan official and supply-side true believer) Kramer (anything to make the market go up), joe kernan (same), and now dennis miller who clings to bush like a scared child.
this is not centrism.
CNN: chief political analyst is a fellow at a conservative think tank, and you could substitute their anchor's scripts with administration white boards.
you're swimming.
uh...who's arguing that the NYT isn't liberal? sorry for not being clearer in my previous point. what i was trying to do was say that sterling's ridiculous comment about the rampant liberal bias throughout the media is yet another right-wing paranoia/conspiracy theory by showing that the top newspapers and the top news channel in the country are not liberal at all. i think i proved that point.
Hey, Sterling, check this out:
http://www.fair.org/press-releases/limbaugh-debates-reality.html
Matt - Chris Matthews is in the administration's pocket? What are you smoking? And I don't think he'd call himself a "former dem" - he remains a "dem". Jim Cramer is a Democrat - and a partisan one.
And I said "off-market coverage" in regards to CNBC. Of course financial guys are going to lean right, but their news coverage is extremely limited and focused - CNBC during the day is niche broadcasting, the same as soap operas or trailer trash talk shows.
As for Dennis Miller, I consider him to be a person without a firm political affiliation. In his early days he seemed a libertarian, then was obviously a Clinton backer, and now (post-9/11) he's a Bush backer. I think he could go back the other way at any moment.
Gloria Borger and Tim Russert are also CNBC regulars, and they're both slight left-leaners.
I think you're talking about Bill Schneider as the CNN political analyst. It's true he's a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, but he's also written a column for the New Republic and taught at Harvard. He's also a contributing editor at National Journal, which is slightly left of center. I think he's pretty much a middle of the road guy. The rest of the CNN stable is very left-leaning. CNN also plays an old trick - on their panel shows, like The Capital Gang, they not only out-number the conservatives with lefties, they also pick weak, unattractive conservatives (cough, Bob Novak, cough). Fox does this in reverse, with Alan Colmes and others.
Sterling, your contention that those of us who "bristle" have an "expectation" that media be liberal is true only in that I have an expectation, and that's that the media be inquisitive, persevering, tenacious, and pull no punches, and that goes for everyone regardless of left or right lean. What is angering is the kind of free pass MOST of the media gives the Bush administration, sure the NYT and some others try to investigate, but even they bury stories or don't follow them through, and those publications are NOT a majority. Most outlets, be they print, TV, or (especially) radio are embarrassingly easy on the Bush administration, which makes me doubt any charges of liberal media bias.
You're all a bunch of morons! Stop listening to the radio and read the bible!
Ajit: "i think i proved that point."
It's nice that you think so, Ajit. But the FOX news situation is NEW, whereas the old leading networks controlled ALL TV news for decades, and still control most TV news distribution. So just to say, "FOX is #1, therefore there is no liberal media bias" is simple-minded. WHY has FOX become #1 in the last few years, despite being available on basic cable for far fewer households, and not available at all in Canada? Could it be a backlash? That's MY point - that conservative talk radio became successful because it was an alternative to leftist control of the mainstream news business in the 80s and 90s.
And the fact that people in airports read USA Today doesn't make it more influential than the NY Times, or the LA Times, or the Washington Post, which all lean left. And even the WSJ, as I pointed out, has a left-leaning news dept (personified by Al Hunt), but a right-leaning ed page.
Honey: So...is your point that Rush Limbaugh was wrong about something, 15 years ago?
Honey: OK, I read the whole thing. Yes, Rush Limbaugh makes mistakes. So does everybody. I am not personally endorsing Rush Limbaugh, I am just pointing out that he is a generally likable guy who is really, really good at radio, and who became phenomenally popular by giving people what they want: a conservative media voice.
That said, he has to talk for three hours a day, extemporaneously, and so I think we can forgive him the occasional misstatement.
Sterling, I do talk for three hours a day. That's for your understanding. But what's your excuse?
Using comedians to inform and entertain instead of boring cats like Mario Cuomo is a stroke of genius.
"Using comedians to inform and entertain instead of boring cats like Mario Cuomo is a stroke of genius."
Unless of course the radio shows they are on are boring. Fan of all the Air America hosts but in all honesty, this station sucks.
Fox is very liberal in my view, and Rebuplicans are for small government and balanced budgets.
I'm sure Franken, Garofalo & co. will get better. I just doubt that it will matter.
Is this part of the plan?
One point that I think needs to be made here is that conservatives/rightists seem to often mistake fact-digging by the media as a liberal/leftist act, especially when it focuses on the government or the Bush administration and reflects negatively on them.
Examples: Is asking our government questions about its actions during wartime/counterterrorism, and trying to get straightforward answers, necessarily left-leaning reporting? Is reporting the number of soldier casualties in Iraq a left-leaning act by the media? Is reporting on the investigation of the Bush administration's knowledge and actions leading up to September 11 a liberal news tack?
I believe the answers to all of these are "no", but that many conservative/right-wingers think in terms of "yes".
In my opinion, the notion of The Liberal Media is a complete myth.
Click below to read more. Here is a snipet.
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New York's radio station WLIB-1190 AM has been loyally "serving New York's Black community" - as its logo states - for decades now. In the early '90s WLIB was lauded as a resource for "Afrocentric" programming and became known for featuring Imhotep Gary Byrd's "Global Black Experience" show.
The station was in many ways a Black activist outlet.
But by the end of this month, WLIB will be taking on a different hue, as it joins the launch of Progress Media's "Air America Radio," the new, predominately White, liberal talk-radio network. Air America has reportedly partnered with Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (ICBC), which owns WLIB.
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