I've been listening to AA and I'm not to impressed...

Randi is pretty good, but the rest have not really hit the spot for me. Mike Webb, Bernie Ward and Mike Malloy all seem better than everyone they got on AA. Maybe I should give them some more time at the controls.

You guys agree?

William Pitt is pretty good, but the rest ?? ...

Well ....

You know ...

and my conclusion is:

Al Franken totally sucks rotten eggs. I am sorry.... nothing against him and his commitment to the truth, but he is seriously misinformed (his ONLY news sources are the NYT, USA Today, WSJ, and Washington Post). He doesn't use the internet. He doesn't consult foreign news sources.

In addition, he doesn't have a real time rhythm for radio, so he just rambles in endless conversations with guests and callers. Half the time, I have no idea what he is talking about. Sorry... but when you are driving in your car, ya kind of need the radio show to be constantly PUNCTUATING the main points (and who they are talking to!)

I don't know.. his GOOD FRIEND is G. Gordon Liddy! He has a couple of freepers as good friends who get a lot of air time.

Randi Rhodes is GREAT.

Janeane (also internet-challenged) seems quite talented (and very intelligent and very informed). Everyday she gets better and better at moderating the rhythm of the show...

Mike Kaplan (?is that his name? Or is it Marty??). He's GREAT.

Everyone is great... but to start their big broadcast day with Al Franken? Talk about a slow start!

Franken should go. And Malloy should take his place - post haste!

That's my opinion... you asked for it! LOL

I presume you were listening to the show with Jon Stewart. A caller asked them to identify their news sources and Franken listed several, including blogs such as TPM. I don't think his list of "NYT, USA Today, WSJ, and Washington Post" was meant to be exclusive, but an sample of papers he reads regularly. How many papers do any of us read every day?

Jon Stewart had a better answer, of course---something about a news crawler on the stall of a bathroom at a local hangout.

most of the folks aren't radio professionals. So yes, it is bumpy, but I plan on growing with them. I was there for their first day. IT is not to often one gets to witness the birth of a network.
I'm so proud of AAR for attempting to do what they've done. When the other liberal voices out there have the opportunity to make decisions about where to go and what to do. They may decide to leave their current stations and join AAR. So, while Mike Malloy and others may not be on AAR now he still may one day.
Then he will be joining my family @ AAR.

Oh and BY the way it hasn't even been 2 weeks yet for AAR. Why sound the death bell so soon?

I listen all day long, except when I'm in the car, and then I may be listening to a program I downloaded to my iPod!

while driving through Portland OR. on Saturday. She kept on cutting off her callers and talking about herself and how great she was. OK, if this is what people want to hear, I guess it's OK, but I liked Ed Schultz and Al Franken better.

Amy Goodman is on the Majority Report right now, discussing Pacifica. I'd like for her to have a slot on AAR. Janeane (god love her) didn't know that the Fairness Doctrine was repealed in the 80's. She's shocked--she thought it was simply being ignored.

I've hardly had my TV on since the start of AA. I wish they would include Mike Malloy in their line up, but i still think the network is doing a great job.

lets not get it confused with the Air America network

"By 1985, the FCC issued its Fairness Report, asserting that the doctrine was no longer having its intended effect, might actually have a "chilling effect" and might be in violation of the First Amendment."

"However, before the Commission's action, in the spring of 1987, both houses of Congress voted to put the fairness doctrine into law--a statutory fairness doctrine which the FCC would have to enforce, like it or not. But President Reagan, in keeping with his deregulatory efforts and his long-standing favor of keeping government out of the affairs of business, vetoed the legislation. There were insufficient votes to override the veto. Congressional efforts to make the doctrine into law surfaced again during the Bush administration. As before, the legislation was vetoed, this time by Bush."

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fairnessdoct/fairnessdoct.htm

;)

...and I'm getting sick and tired of all the threads DEVOTED to tearing down AA. If you don't like it...then don't friggin listen.

- I'm beginning to question the motives of those who start these threads. What the hell are you trying to achieve?

just mention it in one of the many AA threads. When a thread starts up begging people to hate AA as much as the poster hates it, I wonder.

It was boring the first day it was on, and it hasn't gotten any better.

Franken is bad. His staged skits are poorly written, far too obvious, and more suited for high school than commercial radio. He's unfocused. And what's with the stupid dittohead segment? He needs to clean up, or be moved to late night.

Rhodes is great, Garafalo is getting there. The morning crew seems to be a place-holder until they can find someone else.

But if this is our great movement that is going to enlighten the American public to vote liberal, we may as well carve the Bush name on the White House in large block permanent letters. We don't have time for not-ready-for-prime-time players. There are too many professionals out there who could dry a genuine crowd.

This may make us feel all warm and fuzzy, but it won't do anything to win elections. It pisses off my conservative boss, but he's still conservative.

They would email the site and relay their opinions. But starting up threads at DU saying "AA sucks don't you agree", does nothing constructive.

They need feedback. I'm sure they have people reading DU and other sites for opinions.

Us pretending to like it isn't going to make it work, you know.

of the rabid right who then go off to NewsMax, or Drudge or all the other rabid right places and write articles that liberals do not like AA and AA will tank.

If you want your opinions heard by AA, then write AA. But posting negative threads here only gets negative press spred around by the right wing media.

post remarks that they know will end up being quoted on Rush, Hannity and other blogs. People know that we are being monitored. Have they never heard of going to a website and clicking the "contact us" link. That is where their feedback should be directed. That is where it will do the most good.

That NewsMax wouldn't say bad things about Air America if I didn't write criticisms of them?

Air America will survive or not based on its ratings and on the success of its advertisers, not on what I or Drudge or the Freepers say about it. That's not their target audience, anyway, and that audience won't like AA anyway.

The network will only survive if they make the right programming decisions to make it viable to the mainstream public (not just DUers). If everyone here says "Great job," and they assume they are doing it right when they aren't, then they will fail. If they get honest feedback, they have a chance to make the right adjustments. If NewsMax is dumb enough to give AA free press, even bad press, then hurray! Exposure is good. Those who agree with NewsMax won't like it anyway, and those who don't will tune in to see if NewsMax is wrong.

No such thing as bad publicity, only bad products.

There are other reasons that it's better to raise concerns in public rather than in private emails only to the station, but it's too complicated, and if you haven't gotten it yet, you won't.

who issue criticisms as being - and let's call a spade a spade - freeper trolls.

I am not a freeper troll.

I think Al Franken's radio persona sucks rotten eggs.

Sue Me.

To Robbien specifically - I HAVE written letters to Air America. Making the assumption that because someone posts here rules out that they may have also written directly to the show is assinine.

He sucks. He has a total monotone voice. He rambles. Freepers have a bigger role in the call-in segments than people offering added TRUTH.

Al seems to live in a very, very narrow world, where his only goal, it seems, is to be a RESPONSE to hannity and rush and o'reilly. Which in effect makes his show seem like it HONORS the right wing talking points instead of perhaps creating the talking points that should be made.

Thanks to the person who weighed in with: "pretending we just LOVE the show is not going to help anything."

For christ sake it's a few weeks old.

Like most of those bogus polls.

The idea is AWESOME! But the content really needs improvement. Some of these guys just aren't cut out for this and should be replaced by professionals.

In fact I want the best left wing radio stars we got on those stations.

Randi Rhodes in small doses. The Satellite Sisters, blech :puke:

In all honesty, I was predisposed as a long time fan of SNL to like Al and Garafalo.

OMG they are the worst things I have ever heard on radio.

:wtf: I think this is a bad move for AAR. They need MORE soul to their lineup, not more NPR sounding hosts. They're taking over minoriry stations and their lineup is hardly "welcoming" to potential minority listeners.

have no radio experience and it shows. G.G. is getting better and has some interesting twists. Randi is good but she is still working out some of her own problems. I think it will get a lot better if they get the time. I would love them to try some guest talent and would suggest Bart from Bartcop.com he's great and he has toned down his languange enough to make it on the air. The bartman would suck in the freepers and spank their buts. If anybody knows how to send in the suggestion let's try it. We could all send in our favs as suggestions. Bushflash.com also.

It has its rough spots, but overall it's much better than I expected.

Their morning show with Chuck D is really good in terms of getting alternative views out.

It's a good mix of moderate and more progressive shows, and is building a good connection point.

rough patches, but, Hey! They are new. Just getting their rhythm.

only a week or so of broadcasting and you can tell that the message is getting out. Lots of the missing pieces that many of us have been looking for are surfacing finally.

The best part is that the broadcasts cover the country and are moving listeners from Repugnant Hate Radio to a fairer form of news and talk radio...fair and balanced? No, it isnt supposed to be.

but that's just me.

I've enjoyed Franken's program. Rhandi is great. She has a different style, but varied personalities I think is a good thing.

I'm a Malloy fan. I think he'd be great in the evening. However the new FCC rules might be a problem for Mike. :)

He has a really low key style, which I like. He's well prepared and informed. He doesn't spout unsupportable nonsense. And he's funny.

Randi is my favorite, but I like Al a lot. He's funny and level-headed, which I think is a good balance not only to Randi but also to all the flaming vitriol of right wing radio and TV. I think it's good that he lets people talk and is respectful of people with opposing views, all the while quietly shooting them down.

Boy are people ever demanding. Perfection only...wanted.

I support Al Franken. No one has a better guest list. I don't think the support will diminish and more people will come out of the shadows. Al is Al. Imperfect and devout.

He had a big part on the country getting this radio opportunity.

It sure would be nice if the naysayers spell out exactly what they expect and send it to AA.

And if the gripe is the rough edges...tough.
And if the gripe is personality...tough.

So let's hear some practical suggestions sent to them.

we expect perfection? And you're right. There would be no AAR without Frankin. So, all the critics need to give it a rest. If you don't like Franken's show, don't listen. If you prefer Randi, she's on too. What's the big deal? :shrug:

Some of these posts are nuts. Did you really think the goal of a progressive talk show was to convert conservatives to our way of thinking? Does listening to O'Reilly, Hannity and Limbaugh change your mind? I believe AAR's purpose is to offer 50% of the population a venue for our views. And to the frighteningly large portion of our citizenry who do not have a clue, perhaps educate them. It has only been 12 days. I think AAR is making a dent. William Raspberry's article maligning Al Franken and AAR in the Washington Post makes me believe this little radio network is making a difference.

do you watch for weeks and weeks on end... hating it.... 'just to give them a chance'? I think not.

I wonder how many people tuned in and tuned out and went their merry way - FOREVER?

did AAR do any mock shows before a focus group, for example? It doesn't appear so.

My biggest problem with Franken is.... he rambles in a monotone. That takes WORK to focus on what the hell he is saying.

I will say, however, that his show today was quite good... a ton better. I hope it lasts.

I love Franken, but radio is not his forte. I wouldn't put Robin Williams on the radio... he needs the visual to complete his whole thing.

My constructive criticism is that the non-radio people there need to understand that it's radio. There are no images, no smells, no sense of touch. It's just sound.

They have to talk more rythmically. Radio is supposed to replace their thoughts. It should sound the way people think, particularly people who don't read much.

all liberal, all day! There's nothing like it and I am not about to criticize it.

absolutely the best.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com

TYY

. . . praise AAR no matter what you do to it. And, why do you care what he thinks anyway? BTW, did you listen tonight? There was some good content. The very first day it aired, I was a little uncomfortable. I haven't listened since then, but I tuned in tonight and I liked what I heard. Give it time. And if you're trying to impress Rush and his minions, you're wasting your energy.

TYY

what I meant was... If we don't fix the content now then there will be no more (nationally syndicated) left slanted radio.

I'm still not sure about it. I like listening to it but it just is not as good as I know it could be.

...these threads bashing Air America because Malloy isn't on it are getting tedious.

The first few shows were rocky for Al, but he's coming along. I think as soon as he cycles through the rush of folks wanting to be in on the ground floor and it slows down a bit it will get better. I think the pacing is off because they are trying to cram too much in. I also think his trying to be reasonable is an admirable thing. He had a Right Wing CW performer from his USO days on there the other day and it was pretty good. This is the kind of stuff that is needed to counteract the right's claim that we're all a bunch of America-hating communists.

I also like the fact that he tones down the rhetoric a bit. He actually requested a caller not refer to the Bushies as the Reich Wing. Regardless of how F'd up the Bushevik regime is, they are not Nazis. They are a kinder, gentler form of fascism, ture, but they are not the ultimate evil (yet). Remember, the left is supposed to be a bit more considered and logical.

If you have a hankering for lefty red-meat, Randi Rhodes is absolutely great! She is quick and funny and I'm glad that she is on the air (and our side!). I think she's a little hard on her callers, but that is a small complaint. That bouncing boobies song is also funny. I heard it for the first time Friday and I caught myself humming it throughout the weekend.

I haven't had a chance to catch much of the rest, but so far so good.
Hang tough. As they find their voice it will get better.

But granted, you have to pay attention. I think Al's show is geared more towards people who are going to give it a solid hour or two... I'd guess that's mainly the streamers rather than the commuters. Today's hour with the author of "Perfectly Legal" today was tremendous, but a ten minute chunk of it might not have been so cohesive. Al does tend to retread some "chunks" from his book a little too often, but it's for the benefit of those who haven't been spending all their time on DU and reading his book.

Randi *is* geared towards the guy listening for 15 minutes on his drive home. It's almost hard to listen to her entire show because she does retread the same point over and over due to the 15 minute cycle idea. She working the traditional right wing "talk radio" format, down to oversimplifications and a few out and out misstatements.

The two morning shows do kind of blur together, but they're enjoyable so far. Janeane's show is terrific and she's growing into the job, too. I just never seem to catch it, not being near a computer during that time.

My only complaints with AA at this point are piddling... they're slowly sorting out their audio level problems, which is good. The website is still lacking, and I'd love to have an archive on the level of NPR (like how each featured story is available separately). That, and I'm sick to death of some of the ads and PSAs due to endless repeating, but I think that will happen if you listen to ANY radio station seven hours a day. At least they're better than the endless monster truck ads and rip-off car dealer ads that run on broadcast stations here.

I call "choosey beggar" on the orginal poster...

that CQ has abandonded this thread and, thus, any defense she/he could have for making such a moronic assertion.

I guess we're not progessing fast enough for some.

To them I say :thumbsdown:

edit: grammar

I also have a life other than DU, notice I take care of www.anti-bush.com and all the hate mail that comes with it. I also have a life out off the computer, you know, school, choers... life!

I don't mean to bash AAR, I do think they need some improvements though.

Bernie Ward would be good if he was not one of the biggest hypocrites on the radio.

Mike Malloy is the best. He deserves to be on the air. I'd like to see Peter Werbe on, too.

O'Franken is down right boring, and I'm almost done listening to him. Back to Thom Hartmann for me.

Randi Rhodes is good.

And, I've been surprised by Majority Report with Garofalo. I didn't expect her show to be very good. It moves kind of slow, but the content and show is not bad.

So, I like Rhodes a lot, and Garofalo seems pretty good. But, the rest of the shows on Air America SUCK.

get into Franken. Randi Rhodes is a treasure.