The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney: Multipart Series: Inside Air America

17 August 2005

Multipart Series: Inside Air America

INSIDE AIR AMERICA

An Investigative Blog Report

What's the whole story behind Air America Radio's troubles?

For three weeks, we've wondered why the mainstream media simply refused to get to the bottom of the real scandal.

That's why Michelle Malkin and I felt compelled to investigate the situation ourselves.

What we found paints a picture of a company that believes it can successfully pass the blame to others, while it continues with business as usual.

Part One: A Trail Of Debts, has just been published at Michelle Malkin's site. See it now.

Part Two: Beyond Evan, will be featured here, early Thursday morning.

Part Three: Air America's Defenders, coming soon

Part Four: Consequences, coming soon

Your feedback on this series will be welcome, leave comments below.

In other news: Hollywood protects its own-- Janeane Garofalo joins The West Wing cast. A nice Air America jumping-off point?

Also: Air America topic censorship by Minn. affiliate?

Update: topic censorship against talk hosts disturbs the Radio Equalizer, regardless of whether it involves liberals or conservatives. The above link takes readers to a liberal site, I knew that when linking to it.

Earlier this evening, I received this:

I suggest you check out this link again.

You've linked to it as an update to your last post, as "Air America topic censorship by Minn. affiliate?"

The blogger saw fit to call you names at the top of his post. What an imbecile.

I've been following your site occasionally since before the AA scandal.

Keep up the good work!

-- |)aniel

The left is really overheating, don't you think?

Scandal graphic by Martin Archer. Your Amazon orders that originate here, regardless of what you ultimately order, help to support this work. Thanks!

41 Comments:

Awesome Brian! You and the foxy Michelle ROCK! You GO, guys!

I finally download the "Franken Excuse" on Hairball America about the money that was mis-appropriated from Gloria Wise and just errrr... happened to find its way into Scare America.

I was fascinated as I listened to that pathetic sad, little, rambling, mumbling sorry-assed excuse!

Sounded FOR SURE like he got his hand caught in the cookie jar!

I will LOVE IT when more and more about "What Al Knew and When Did He Know It" comes out!

Hey Al - Be Afraid! Be VERY Afraid!

Fido

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 13:30
You all MUST go read this: EXCELLENT WORK Brian and Michelle!!! I think you need to get the "MSM clock" back up, and how about an "AAR clock" for when will they address these issues.

---fyi

Inside Air America: An Investigative Blog Report
Pt. 1: A Trail of Debts
By Michelle Malkin and Brian Maloney
michellemalkin.com/radioequalizer.blogspot.com
August 17, 2005

***

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 13:45
I don't get it. That's not a judgement that Malkin posted. It's a complaint. And it reads almost as if Bri and Malkie were hired to ghostwrite it. Nothing's proven, and we have yet to see if a judge actually finds the complaint is worthy of a case. Nice try, though. Should give all you "defenders of justice" (ha, as if any of you really give a crap) grouse-fodder for the next month or so!

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 13:52
I think the real scandal here is that the extremely liberal applications of adjectives like "hot" and "foxy" re: Malkin.

By Shipping / Receiving, at 17 August, 2005 14:01
LOL @ Terry Schaivo

With Bill O'Reily saying to keep her alive because "a miracle could still happen", people across America asking Fox News how "we can starve her to death when someone starving a dog gets sent to jail", and other such inanities, the thoughts of the common American are obvious- death fear reigns supreme. It's better to live in pointless existence than to end this existence.

Interestingly, many of those for pulling the plug are demonstrating a similar lack of understanding of the state of nothingness by sympathizing with the plight of someone who doesn't know or care about her plight.

Chalk up another victory to "being enlightened"!
6409.44839297017

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 14:02
50859.7891556323

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 14:02
20457.5898718242

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 14:03
Oh my, this is sad.

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 14:19
Brian has collected some "interesting" spam here, to say the least.

By eLarson, at 17 August, 2005 14:22
Ahhhh......it's not an imporatnt story to the Left....then why all the comment spam?

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 14:23
Whatever became of this lawsuit?

Ex-Host Winstead Sues Air America

May 24, 2005
By Ken Tucker

Former Air America Radio morning show host Lizz Winstead is suing the network, claiming she was fired, then stiffed out of nearly $300,000, according to a report in the New York Post.

Winstead claims that she’s owed $200,000 of her $250,00 annual salary, plus $83,333 in severance pay, $14,423.08 in unused vacation time and $5,960.55 that she says the network pocketed from her on-air ads for the Vermont Teddy Bear Company.

Winstead was fired by Air America on March 4. The show she co-hosted with Rachel Maddow and Chuck D, “Unfiltered,” remained on-air until March 31. At that point, Jerry Springer’s show took over the time slot.

Asked for comment, a spokeswoman for Air America told BillboardRadioMonitor.com, “We do not comment on rumors of litigation or litigation."

Maddow now does an early morning show for Air America, while Chuck D is set to host a weekend show for the network.

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 14:24
Wow Brian - You touched a nerve for sure. Looks like the response is Let's spam Brian's blog. How predictable.

Awesome work- Air American and the losers that run it, work for it and defend it deserve everything and then some, that is going to be coming their way.

All I can say is that it will be a breath of fresh air not hearing that nasaly, snot-nosed Rhodes, and Jeanine "I have no occupation, but I have a big mouth" Garafalo. As for Al Franken - go back to SNL pal. You have no future doing anything else.

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 14:24
I predict that AAR will go down before Karl Rove.

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 14:24
I predict AAR will go down before Bush pulls troops out of Iraq.

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 14:45
what the hell ever on that silly comment spam.
You must be a lunatic if you think this is effective!

Question to "Anonymous:
"DO YOU REALLY THINK ANYONE READS 2,566,895 WORDS OF NONSENSE?

Gotta wonder if everyone just scrolls FASTLY past ??

By peapies, at 17 August, 2005 14:56
You know, it would be interesting to find out if any of the posted spam is koming from kos...

Brilliant work and major kudos to Michelle / Brian...

I hope there are jail cells left for the owners of AAR...they deserve nothing less than the same given to the crooks at Enron...

By nocoen, at 17 August, 2005 15:17
Air Spamerica!

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 15:22
Brian,

You and Michelle are like Batman & Robin.

Congrats on this huge investigative coup! i look forward to reading the rest!!!

By Alex Nunez, at 17 August, 2005 15:32
When you're losing, spam. Thanks, libs! We know we have you, right where we want you.

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 15:37
Bestsellers, mostly.

By Anonymous, at 17 August, 2005 15:42
Yes, it's the new filibuster approach to my comments section. Make it too long to discourage posting. Nice.

By Brian Maloney, at 17 August, 2005 15:56
Sorry, had to switch to comment registration for now. Too much ad spam and too many filibusters.

Critics are as welcome as ever.

By Brian Maloney, at 17 August, 2005 16:18
One registration works for all Blogger sites. If you already have one, use it here.

The ad spam was just killing us.

By Brian Maloney, at 17 August, 2005 16:20
Since oyu have no trackback option I thought it responsible to post a comment.

First, great job! I don't care what they say you are doing real investigative reporting and that makes you a national treasure.

I didn't intitially want to harp on this story too much, and I still think that was the right decision, but with this new information this is turning into a big story. I know that the garbage that comes out of the on air personalities mouths is complete ideological nonsense, but I still do not celebrate the loss of a voice on the political airwaves. I hate what they are, and yet I don't delight in their troubles; go figure. But the fact the MSM are giving Air America a pass on this story tells volumes. If not for the bloggers, especially Radio Equalizer who has been a pit bull on this story, we would never know the truth.

By Brian Bonner, at 17 August, 2005 16:27
I predict AAR will go down before Bush pulls troops out of Iraq.

What about Germany? South Korea?

By eLarson, at 17 August, 2005 16:33
I have been following this story on your blog and Mmichelle Malkin's for a while - a must read for me every morning!

Excellent work!

By Crimsonfisted, at 17 August, 2005 16:41
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By raccoonradio, at 17 August, 2005 16:41
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By raccoonradio, at 17 August, 2005 16:43
In case people still think the AAR Scandal is a creation of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy:

Liberal Reporter Broke AAR Scandal

"The ace News reporter who broke the Air America scandal said the story has not been driven by ideology but rather by questions of mismanaging public funds for youth programs. He also called on the major news organizations to abandon liberal bias and report on the growing scandal.

"...To understand how unique this is one needs to know about the people of Co-op City. The community is very liberal. The streets are named after famous socialist leaders including former Democratic Socialist presidential candidate Eugene Debbs. Frequent complaints to the newspaper and Mr. Horowitz’s commentaries are that some of his views are not liberal enough..."

Boston & N.E. Radio Live Journal

By raccoonradio, at 17 August, 2005 16:49
Brian - I had no idea you and Michelle had hit such a nerve! Turn over the rock and WATCH the ants scatter, muttering about the holocaust and new ways to sell real estate...

Excuse me - I must go and buy more books on Amazon now!

By Peter Porcupine, at 17 August, 2005 17:25
Killer stuff, Brian & Michelle...and it's only Part One!

Funny comment about how the Multicultural complaint looked like you "ghost-wrote" it. I didn't know that lawyers had ghostwriters; maybe that's why they're so expensive!

Thanks for the reminder about CNN's Aaron Brown, who couldn't help himself but to invite Franken on to chuckle at Rush's addiction. Who's laughing now? And on top of that, who's the "Liu-ser" now? Whose head is going to be slammed in a car door now?

And before the AAR defenders check in with their "Evan [Montvel] Cohen is a Republican!" schtuff, lemme tell you: My search of voter registration records shows that the only party that people surnamed "Montvel" or "Montvel-Cohen" are registered with is the Democrats. Evan's registration did not turn up in my search, but all other members of the Montvel-Cohen family who are registered are Demos. Heavy Demo donors among the Investor Defendants are Rob Glaser, Doug Kreeger, Thomas Embrescia, and Anita and Sheldon Drobny.

In the end, this is not so much about D's vs. R's as much as it is an affirmation of what folks like us have always known: the popularity of conservative talk has to do with the quality of the broadcasts and the broadcasters, and not simply because there's big money behind it.

By L.N. Smithee, at 17 August, 2005 17:33
Hey Robert: So you're going to give Air America a mulligan on funneling hundreds of thousands of children's charity dollars into the pockets of the likes of Al Franken because of Jeff Guckert?

Even if I accepted your lame premise, consider this: I didn't scam my way into the White House Press Corps. I am not addicted to Oxycontin. I didn't say anything to Judith Miller about Lyin' Joe Wilson's wife. I didn't call a subordinate on the phone subject her to tales of my sexual prowess. But somewhere along the line, my tax money went into the Boys & Girls Clubs for the purpose of serving the needs of children in New York City, and it ended up lining the pocketbook of Janeane Garofalo. So when I look into the eye of AAR, metaphorically speaking, I've got a perfect right to say "You have a mote in your eye."

If you can look at this situation and say it's all right, you're sick.

By L.N. Smithee, at 17 August, 2005 18:44
This is a startling story! Where were the level-headed business minds when all this was getting started? It sounds like Air America was a "rush job," thrown on the air without any long term planning--not even medium term planning!

Do you think somebody in the background did not expect this venture to last beyond last year's american election? Very cynical.

By al fin, at 17 August, 2005 20:39
Excellent work!

Can't wait for part II.

Or the comment spam, looks like someone is worried.

By mesablue, at 17 August, 2005 20:54
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

By L.N. Smithee, at 17 August, 2005 21:04
Anonymous asked whatever became of the Lizz Winstead lawsuit?

Her father, a marine, Guadalcanal veteran, and contributor to the early years of The Daily Show, died last weekend.

So since you are so interested in her personal affairs, satisfied?

By @whut, at 17 August, 2005 21:22
Robert wrote:
You know, if I really though[t] Brian Maloney or you other Right Wing Radio Apologist gave a flying flip about an inner city Boys and Girl club I might think something of this "scandal".

Robert, you need to do your own thinking, and stop letting people who whisper in your ear that conservatives are evil creatures do your thinking for you. Once you get that done, your brain will be clear enough to see that this is a legitimate scandal regardless of the politics of the perpetrators.

You just want to use this "scandal" to attack AAR and Franken - who at best is tangentially involved.

The man who implies that everyone to his right is a liar is the public face of the network. As goes Franken, Air America goes, and vice versa. You should have learned that on the CBS Evening News, no longer with Dan Rather.

It would have been refreshing if Franken had the integrity of Michelle Malkin, who, in addition to admitting her own errors, doesn't pull punches when conservatives like John Lott, Armstrong Williams, or Tom Tancredo step over the line. Days ago, she wrote this about GOP money man Jack Abramoff. What did Franken give us? A short, mumbled, inaccurate statement that he wasn't in a hurry to correct when it was mysteriously misquoted (NOT!)in the Times.

Here's a tip, Robert: if you really want to meet someone who doesn't give a rip about the Boys & Girls Clubs, check out a mirror. Obviously, you are ready to excuse the guys on your side if they can, if the cash keeps flowing, realize their fantasy: beating Rush Limbaugh at his own game.

But it's not going to happen, Robert. America doesn't need left-wing radio; there's no reason to tune in to listen to ignorant B-list comedians who can no longer make a living being funny try their hand at current events. Besides, the left has all the other news media, save Fox News and the rare paper like the Wall Street Journal. And before you float it out there: Save the argument about the "rich corporations that own the media," because they rarely pull the strings editorially; the liberal Don Hewitts and Andrew Heywards and Mark Helprins and David Westins do, and no one calls them on the carpet unless they aren't making money for the parent company.

In the hopes that somehow lame, unfunny commentary would catch on with Bush and Rush haters, your side, after stealing charity money to keep afloat, apparently discussed cheating the Feds out of payroll tax. The fact that you don't recognize this as a scandal says everything about people like you.

And you have the gall to suggest it's conservatives that are "desperate."

By L.N. Smithee, at 17 August, 2005 22:01
I've got much more about the Air America Minnesota topic censorship issue. I've got the complete gag on guns, gays and abortion memo posted at Lloydletta's Nooz.

By lloydletta, at 18 August, 2005 00:29
This is going to be one of the biggest scandals ever! It's going to make Watergate look like a Girl Scout picnic! Everybody should know about the Liberal conspiricy to defraud charities and undermine America!

By Ghost Dansing, at 18 August, 2005 04:38
You are Michelle are doing a great job. I want to getting something started locally with WHJJ. I began a questionnaire for WHJJ than thought, maybe better from you. I could not find your e-mail if you are interested, let me know and I'll forward to you.

Wade

By Anonymous, at 18 August, 2005 09:50
It was said on the Boston radio-info board that "some blogger" was on WRKO's Blute and Scotto show talking about the AAR investigation (was it you? Wish I had know, I would have tuned in) The person who made the post said WRKO might be giving lots of free publicity to Air America by mentioning them.

Well, even if so, I doubt AAR's ratings would go up much. People already KNOW about AAR and they aren't tuning in (despite the laudatory articles in NY Times,
Boston Globe; pieces on CNN,
Boston's WBZ_TV, etc,). Go to radioandrecords.com and see the Boston ratings. The two AAR stations are easy to find: they're the two at the bottom. Take their COMBINED ratings and multiply by _7_ and you get the ratings conservatalk WRKO gets.

By raccoonradio, at 18 August, 2005 12:46

The Radio Equalizer: Brian Maloney

17 August 2005

Multipart Series: Inside Air America

41 Comments:

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