Air America fires Mike Malloy
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by Helen & Harry Highwater, Unknown News
Sept. 1, 2006
Air America abruptly cancelled The Mike Malloy Show on Wednesday. According to Malloy's website, the cancellation came out of the blue, after
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the network had assured him in recent weeks that his show would be renewed. Malloy had spoken of the renewal on the air just a week or so ago, and that was good news to this listener. But then came the axe, in the middle of a week when Malloy wasn't on his own show, but was instead substituting for Randi Rhodes on her Air America show.
That's a pisser. The Mike Malloy Show was, bar none, the best show on Air America. It aired in the wee hours of the night, and he was frequently furious at "the Bush crime family," to the point when you thought he might pop a blood vessel. But it was a righteous anger, and it was great radio — and perfect for a late night spot, when listeners could blow off steam with Malloy and go to sleep knowing that someone out there shared their fury and fear for the future of this nation. Sometimes he sounded like he was about to go bonkers — and I loved it, since that's my mental state too, as the Bush-Cheney adminstration goes busily about its work destroying America and slaughtering innocent people, and the Democratic Party goes on standing in the corner watching, perhaps saying tsk tsk once in a while.
It's "a money decision," they say, but Malloy was the network's lowest-paid full-time host. More likely, Malloy's show was shocking to the more sedated members of the audience. He frequently spoke out against the stupid side of religion, and he was the most vocal atheist I've ever heard on the radio, which no doubt touched a nerve in a nation full of religious nutballs. He openly questioned the official fairy tales of 9/11, which probably pissed off plenty of people — even on the left, it's not easy to face the truth when everything you've been told is a lie.
In America, just about everything comes down to money. Malloy was making some people in the audience stop and think, which means he was making other people change the station and write angry letters. So I can half-understand his show's cancellation... if it's "a money decision."
Air America Radio, like the Democratic Party, is better than nothing, but sometimes not much better than nothing. Like the Democratic Party, Air America has a few people with genuine principles, and on the air at Air America I find more than half the shows worth listening to, which is a far better ratio than the Democratic Party offers.
Talk radio has been dominated by right-wing liars and insult-mongers for a long time, so it's good to be able to hear reasonably intelligent perspectives on the news — thank you, Rachel Maddow, Randi Rhodes, Thom Hartmann, Sam Seder, and the dear departed Mike Malloy.
We pay $11 a month to get all of Air America's shows via podcasts, and listen to them without commercials. Air America has other hosts, specifically Al Franken and Jerry Springer, who are allowed to waste hours and hours of air time saying very little of value, but for Maddow, Rhodes, Hartmann, Seder, and formerly Malloy, the price is reasonable, and the time spent is spent productively. I usually learn something.
Air America has made a mistake canceling Malloy, a very big mistake in my opinion. But they've made mistakes before. Like the Democratic Party, making mistakes seems to be what they do best.
So I'm angry this morning, but I'll continue as a premium subscriber to Air America, even without
The Mike Malloy Show. Good shows get dropped all the time on radio and TV, and it helps a little that the guy who's (at least temporarily) taking over Malloy's time slot is Peter Werbe, who's very intelligent and articulate.
Malloy is very good at what he does, so he'll end up on the radio somewhere, probably on just one station in Bumfuck, Iowa, but through the wonders of the internet I'll be listening — which means I'll be listening a little less to Air America.
More troubling than Malloy's cancellation was the utterly classless way Air America handled it. Firing a guy midweek while he's filling in for someone else, and after promising him that a new contract was forthcoming — man, that's just tacky.
It's been my experience that business operations conducted with no class or dignity usually fail, and I'm not sure how I'll cling to sanity when Air America goes down.
© by the author.
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About the authors
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Helen and Harry Highwater have published Unknown News since 1997. We're a married couple sharing a byline à la Lennon and McCartney, and "I" can be either of us, or both of us. If you're consumed by curiosity, it's safe to assume the more boisterous and aggressive bits come from Helen, and anything ladylike or demure is probably Harry's work.
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That's a pisser.
The Mike Malloy Show was, bar none, the best show on Air America.
It aired in the wee hours of the night, and he was frequently furious at "the Bush crime family," to the point when you thought he might pop a blood vessel.
But it was a righteous anger, and it was great radio — and perfect for a late night spot, when listeners could blow off steam with Malloy and go to sleep knowing that someone out there shared their fury and fear for the future of this nation.
Sometimes he sounded like he was about to go bonkers — and I loved it, since that's my mental state too, as the Bush-Cheney adminstration goes busily about its work destroying America and slaughtering innocent people, and the Democratic Party goes on standing in the corner watching, perhaps saying tsk tsk once in a while..
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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