Not terribly surprising, if true.
Think Progress � Air America To Declare Bankruptcy, But Progressive Radio Remains StrongFrom what I've read, they've had severe problems meeting their financial obligations and attracting listeners. They were even on Sirius Satellite Radio for a while... then got dropped.
It's kind of funny, in a way - I remember it being marketed as an alternative to 'conservative radio', which was supposedly monopolizing the airwaves. I guess they figured that people would gladly listen to them - because, after all, THEY told the truth. And perhaps they did and do tell the truth as they see it... but it bore little resemblance to the truth everyday Americans see. And in the end, I wonder if they went further left than where they started, to hopefully catch the majority of folks out there who believed just like they do... and lost the ones they had.
By the way, I remember another 'majority' that tried hard to be a massive political force... which ended up being sidelined and essentially dumped by the electorate when THEY went what the poor unwashed sheeple thought to be too far.
The moral? Speech is free. And you can get pretty much anyone to subsidize an outlet for that particular speech. But eventually, the person who gave you the money will be wanting something in return, and if you don't have the listeners to provide some sort of power base (or even provide commercial revenue) then you've learned a hard lesson. Speech is free - but unless you're in a dictatorship like Cuba or North Korea you're going to have a hell of a time making people listen if they don't want to.
J.
Comments (4)
Jerry:
For the Democrats it is not enough that the people must listen to them, the people must also be prevented from listening to anyone else.
The Democratic reasoning seems to be; since we are good and our motives are pure then any person or political party who disagrees with us must be evil incarnate. Consequently, any means, from legal intimadation all the way up to deadly force, that will stop the evil lies spewed bythe right-wingers from seducing the hearts and minds of the American people is justified.
If you go far enough down that path you will eventually reach a place where all radios and televisions sold in America are required by FCC regulation to be restricted to receiving only the official government channels.
Emmmm, sounds familiar.
Oh well, it probably doesn't matter because everybody knows a good clean hate the blue-state Rethuglicans session the first thing in the morning is a healthy and cathartic start to the day.
pray for sanity.
otpu
Posted by otpu | September 14, 2006 1:23 AM
Posted on September 14, 2006 01:23
Apparently the Libs forgot that they already have a government-sponsored Liberal radio network, with a station in every town big enough for a university: NPR. Maybe NPR isn't Liberal enough for them, but it is dominated, news-wise, by liberal-leaning stories, when compared to other stations in each market.
Posted by Mattexian | September 14, 2006 12:27 PM
Posted on September 14, 2006 12:27
John -
Not a problem, and cleaned up. It DOES sound familiar, and with the recent attempt at censorship by the Dems I identify them MUCH more with Orwell's "Big Brother" party than they'd appreciate.
J.
Posted by JLawson | September 14, 2006 11:02 PM
Posted on September 14, 2006 23:02
Mattexian -
I gave up on NPR a good fifteen years back. I don't recall the exact thing that tripped the breaker, but I remember listening to a segment about something I had direct knowledge of - and they got it well over halfway wrong. If their reporting was THAT bad on one thing, how could I give them credence on other subjects?
J.
Posted by JLawson | September 14, 2006 11:05 PM
Posted on September 14, 2006 23:05