Air America Radio, Stephen L Green, Mark Green, Rob Glaser

GREEN'S DAY

Hey Bro, Thanks For The Network!







Despite late rumors to the contrary, wealthy Manhattan developer Stephen L Green and RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser today (with a few others also in the mix) announced they have finally taken control of the long- floundering Air America Radio network.

But how will it be run? For that answer, we turn to the Huffington Post, where brother Mark Green, a perennial political candidate in New York City, trumpeted the news. Hey Bro, thanks for the gig!

Using every tired circa- 1990s business cliche known to man, brother Green called it "Air America 2.0":

Today my family formally purchases and takes over Air America Radio. Why? Because if progressive values were a stock, now is the time to buy.

That hasn't always been true, as the cycle of politics demonstrates. In recent decades, politics seems to have been governed by physics - for every action, there's an opposite and equal reaction.

William F. Buckley Jr. started The National Review in the 1950s to rebut what he saw as the dominance of liberalism in the academy and opinion journals like The Nation and The New Republic. From 1970-72, Public Citizen, Common Cause and the NRDC were all created in reaction to Nixon's depredations. Similarly, People For the American Way grew out of the rise of the Religious Right under Reagan in the mid-80s.

New progressive think tanks over the past 10 years, most recently and prominently the Center for American Progress, were created to counter AEI and Heritage. And, of course, the Huffington Post and Air America were born in reaction to the electronic propaganda of Drudge and Limbaugh et. al.

Air America was a large, smart idea to counter the near-monopoly on talk radio by the far (f)right. But like most start-ups, the business plan collided with reality. Six CEOs over its first three years - and various missteps and misspending - sent it into Chapter 11.

It's now ready to go from The Perils of Pauline to The Little Engine that Could. How? First, by focusing on the radio fundamentals of making a strong line-up even stronger; second, by connecting to other progressive membership organizations to be mutually fortifying; and third, by being a multi-media content company involving other distribution platforms - Internet, blogging, audio and video streaming, mobile, social networks, and more. It's time to think outside the (radio) box.

The twin goals are to make it profitable and influential. One without the other won't work. If it's not a business, it'll go out of business.

...

It's no longer enough just to hope that The New York Times will cover a rally or press release. The relatively new combination of The HuffingtonPost, Alternet, Moveon, Center for American Progress and Campaign for America's Future, The Nation and The American Prospect, DailyKos and TalkingPointsMemo - and so many labor unions - means that Air America will be part of a larger progressive infrastructure heard by a widening audience. For if we can't grow and prosper now -- given the 110th Congress, given the unmitigated disaster that's Iraq, given a slew of top-quality presidential aspirants -- when will we?

So Air America will aggressively cover national politics and policies in ways that will be informative, opinionated and entertaining. All three.

We'll be full of news and views. Two views especially. First, America should stop attacking Muslim countries in ways that multiply terrorism. Second, instead of only talking about exporting democracy, Washington should begin practicing it here at home, for example by making sure elections aren't auctions.

Speaking personally, my brother and I are excited by this important challenge and look forward to working with the Air America professionals - in front of the mic and behind it - who have held this dream together. Steve Green has been a very successful businessman accustomed to making money -- and he doesn't intend for AAR to be an exception.

I've been an author, public interest lawyer and the NYC Public Advocate. For me this feels like a continuation of so much I've done in the progressive movement over three decades. Air America is like a public advocate for the country, exposing problems and offering solutions.

...

But that requires a conversation called democracy. In the spirit that dialogue beats monologue, I am today contacting the New Hampshire Republican Party and the New York Post editorial page. Since the Democratic Party of Nevada actually invited Fox News to host that state's Democratic debate, I asked if Air America could host the first Republican debate in New Hampshire, assuring them that "we too can be fair and balanced."

And to Bob McManus, editorial page editor of The New York Post, I proposed that he come on Air America to discuss his views and that Air America commentators would in turn once-a-month write an op-ed on his pages, because "it's better to exchange ideas than insults." His 500,000 readers should hear from us and our 2 million+ audience should hear from him.

We have many fresh ideas for programming, for technology, for partnerships with sister organizations. But it's this conversation called democracy that's the cornerstone of Air America 2.0. We intend to listen to our listeners. To increase our listeners. To hope they will join our journey to better content, better programming, and a better country. To tell them that it's your America, and your Air America.

Wow, Mark, what a bold vision! You're going to incorporate blogs, audio streaming and video clips into your website? Nobody's ever thought of that!

And that "strong lineup" of which you speak is busy losing affiliates, with Burlington, Vermont as the latest example. Plus, that tie- in between the network and liberal advocacy groups actually began two years ago, with little benefit for either party to date, other than leased airtime income for AAR.

Also, note how Green has already spelled out precisely which viewpoints his hosts will express and emphasize. Will he personally regulate on- air content to suit his own agenda?


From Mark Green's own words, we can tell right off the bat this is simply yet another case of liberal "investors" moving into the picture without any real idea how a radio network should be run. The money pit lives on!

Meanwhile, there is an elephant in the room. Watch this site for all the upcoming details!

Men Who Know: David A Lunde


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