Customer Reviews

Road to Air America: Breaking the Right Wing Stranglehold on Our Nation's Airwaves

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I long suspected it, but my suspicions were confirmed that the "liberal media" in America was vanishing after reading this book. A handful of major corporations with strong ties to Republican conservatives now owns the bulk of radio and TV stations, as well as strings of newspapers. Trying to overcome this stranglehold of corporate-owned media is a major part of the Air America story. It's an inspiring story about how one person -- admittedly one with a lot of financial means and people in high places -- can change a landscape if he or she doesn't give up. I listen to Air America from time to time, and while it's clearly a fledling network that's still got a ways to go, it's a refreshing change from the other right-wing AM stations who repeat the same misinformations all over the place. By the way, if you're interested in this title, you should really check out "Outfoxed," a documentary about Fox News and Rupert Murdoch. I watched it after finishing this book, and it echoes what is said in this book.

I would give this book 3 stars for writing quality and 3.5 stars for content, but I was extremely interested in the story, so I'm rounding it up to 4 stars anyway. The author and his wife are venture capitalists who were convinced that corporate-owned media were unwilling to cover stories such as Prescott Bush's (W's grandfather) collaboration with the Nazis, and they were inspired to respond to the stranglehold of right-wing radio after Al Gore's "defeat" in the 2000 fiasco.

The story of the beginning of Air America Radio is quite compelling, though the book suffers from repetitiveness and a lack of detail. This is definitely the story from Drobny's point-of-view, and it lacks interesting information that he was either not privy to or chose not to share. For instance, I was interested to know how and why the station started, but when it came to learning about how they found and negotiated with on-air talent, we get only a little information about Al Franken and nothing about anybody else! Also, there was a bit of a fiasco with early financial dealing, but we get only sketchy details from Drobny.

As for content, while Mr. Drobny seems like a very nice fellow and an angel for the left, the book was unintentionally revealing regarding some of his weaknesses. On several occasions, we learn, the Drobnys were asked to give interviews to various networks about the new station, but they declined to do so, fearing that the story would get negative spin!! No wonder they had troube getting initial investors, when they were perpetually declining free publicity! Drobny spends a lot of time lamenting the difficulty in finding finanial backers, but it never seems to have occurred to him to have the station be a non-profit organization funded by contributors. I think a lot of people, myself included, would have donated generously to have a liberal radio station. Later, the management spent a fair amount of money having a PR firm decide on a name -- why not ask potential listeners to try their hand?

Despite the flaws of the people who started the station and the weaknesses of the book, I fully support AAR and bless the Drobnys for getting it on the air. It's a terrific radio alternative, and it has kept me sane through the mire that is politics today.

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Drobny!

In late 2002, venture capitalist Sheldon Drobny decided that there was an untapped audience waiting for a liberal talk radio network. After more than a year of organizing, Air America Radio (AAR) was born, appearing on 100 stations, including eighteen of the top twenty markets. Two weeks after its launch, on March 31, 2004, AAR lost two of its three key stations (in Chicago and Santa Monica), and was close to collapse. During the subsequent endeavors to save AAR, Sheldon Drobny penned this book, his explanation for why he started AAR.

First of all, I found this to be a disturbing book. Mr. Drobny shows a great deal of venom for those with whom he disagrees, reminiscing about his father who would wish death upon those he disliked, or worse, "Dad said cancer was too good for him and wished for him to be paralyzed." (Page 17.) "I believe to this day I am still mentored by his spirit." (Page 25.)

In his analysis of modern American radio, Mr. Drobny discusses the corporate ownership of stations, but does not discuss National Public Radio (NPR), which holds a very large liberal audience. What this book is, in fact, is an apologia for Mr. Drobny, a place for him to air his grievances and explain his thinking.

As for me, I was hoping for a book on Air America Radio, what went right and what went wrong. This is not such a book. If you are interested in Mr. Drobny as a person, then you will probably like this book, but if you are interested in the history of AAR, then you will be disappointed - as indeed I was.

I've been listening to Air America since day one. I tuned in for Al Franken but kept coming back for Randi Rhodes. She is the true star of Air America and probably the most brilliant commentator in the country. I listen in Los Angeles on KTLK AM-1150 every single day. If you want to know how this whole thing started pick up the book.

[...] I don't care for anything they broadcast in the morning. The good stuff starts with Randi Rhodes, continues with Majority Report, and ends with the AMAZING Mike Malloy. Malloy speaks the truth night after night. He totally nails the farcicality of religious nonsense that is so brutally honest, so utterly true and cutting. I am a total fan of his piercingly intense HATRED of the hypocrisy and callowness that typifies the fundamentalist / conservative "Flying Monkey Right".

This is a fairly dry and factual account of the forming of air america. It's interesting because it was written by one of the founders of Air America. I would have given it five stars, however the text is slightly dry. I would reccomend this book to Air America fans, or folks who are merely curious as to how it all started.

I was introduced to Air America while driving cross country. The sun had set and I was station surfing when I came upon a female talk show host. My first thought after listening for about 30 seconds was this could not be real. This had to be a parody done by some ultra-right winger trying to show how idiotic and hate-filled the extreme left was. I listened on for about 5 minutes and was convinced of my answer.

This parody though, had gone off the deep-end and was becoming unbelievable. The talk show host was rambling and making incoherent statements. The facts were obviously made up and the intense anger that spewed forth was getting on my nerves. This parody had gotten so unrealistic that I was about to change stations when she went to a station break. It was then that I learned that I had been listening to Randi Rhodes on Air America.

Wow, I was thunderstruck. I had been throughout college a classic liberal. But I had watched the Democratic Party get taken over by radical extremists. For some reason they were pushing us moderates out and we eventually became the Reagan Democrats. Today I am no longer a registered Democrat - since it is truly a foreign party to me and many middle of the road individuals.

It was a major disappointment to hear that what could have been a great radio station is degraded by a bunch of personalities who epitomize the radical hate-filled extremism that has caused the Democratic Party to lose the populist vote. With rare exception most of the stars of Air America will be considered to virulent and anti-American to garner anybody but the 10% of hard-core leftists.

With that in mind the book is little more of a cheerleading fest. The founders of Air America are under the impression that the major media outlets (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, Washington Post) while undeniable liberal, are not liberal enough. Hence, we now have another media outlet voicing extremists rants. In some way Air America is partly to blame along with Michael Moore and other anti-American extremists for Kerry's defeat. When the average middle of the road American hears Air America, they are turned off. Perhaps they just don't know it, but they are truly shooting themselves in the foot.

Too Bad so sad.