New York Post, John Mainelli, Billboard

'SENSATIONAL TRUTH'

As Defenders Step Out Of Line, Reporter Fights Back




Topping yesterday's nastiness emerging from media coverage of our Air America Radio investigation was surely the entertainment trade writers who turned against newspaper reporters daring to report on the company's troubles.

While their pro-Air America bias has long been obvious, publications such as Billboard's Radio Monitor actually went so far as to attack New York Post reporter John Mainelli, a longtime and well-respected New York City talk radio programmer, as well.

Since the foreign-owned Billboard, as well as other trades such as Clear Channel's Inside Radio, receive Air America advertising revenue, it's not terribly surprising to see coverage slant in their direction.

This nearly rabid level of Air America media defense, however, seemed to reach fresh lows:

The Post, in particular, seemed to offer a sensationalist slant to its reporting of the alleged loss of WLIB. Reporter John Mainelli wrote, “Air America is close to losing its New York flagship station, knocking Al Franken and his liberal colleagues off the air on the second anniversary. Losing its New York outlet would be a serious blow to the fledgling liberal radio network. Air America's options for a new home are not promising. All of the city's other strong-signal stations are spoken for, leaving only weak-signal ‘fringe’ stations that do not cover the entire city and suburbs.”

Danny Goldberg, CEO of Air America Radio, responded late Tuesday morning to “recent reports via the conservative media” in a staff memo in which he said, “Air America’s ratings in New York went up substantially in the fall 2005 book. Air America’s New York audience is large, growing and valuable. In every conceivable scenario, Air America will continue to be on in New York City.”

He went on to stress that Air America Radio is on track to be stronger still in the coming year and years: “Our audience is bigger, the total number of affiliates carrying our programming is greater, and the amount of revenue we are generating is increasing.

How did Mainelli feel about this characterization of his reporting?

We asked him, receiving this on-the-record response: "sometimes the truth is 'sensational'. Once again, Danny Goldberg attacks the messenger, but doesn't deny the message. In fact, he virtually confirmed it, by being vague about Air America's future in New York."


Funny enough, now that it's even more clear our reporting on Air America's New York City troubles was spot-on, we're not exactly receiving apologies from the network's serial defenders. We did, however, get a kick out of this Internet radio board posting:

It's obvious to me that the response from AAR is very carefully worded. They do not specifically mention WLIB, just that they plan to be on in the NYC market for "many years to come."

I just think it's funny that many people started attacking Brian Maloney and other whistle-blowers. I don't mean to get political, but it's odd that people who call the Bush administration secretive are themselves so secretive about their own dealings.

Watch here for more updates yet to come.

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