***scroll for updates below…Think Progress retracts story***

Photoshop: Darleen Click

So, Air America leaks word of its bankruptcy to liberal blog Think Progress in an attempt to avoid complete humiliation by all those evil right-wingers who were spreading such vicious rumors about its financial chaos.

May I just say: Bwahahahahahaha.

First question: Will the New York Times fiiiiinally get around to covering this story? Hmmm?

Be sure to check the indefatigable Brian Maloney at The Radio Equalizer this afternoon for everything you need to know that the liberal blogs and NYTimes won’t be telling you. ***Update: Brian’s got the latest at Inside Radio and at Radio Equalizer here.***

Update: You know, if Brian Maloney were a liberal blogger who had single-handedly blown the whistle on the financial shenanigans of a conservative radio conglomerate, he would be the toast of the media establishment. He’d be invited on all the prime-time talk shows. He’d be a “Person of the Week” on the nightly news. He’d get a profile in People magazine. But he won’t get any of that.

I am honored to have worked with him early on on this story. We spent many late nights on the phone and over the e-mail transom, sifting through legal and financial documents nailing down the story the Times wouldn’t cover in its own backyard. Brian is a dogged reporter and a terrific guy. I hope you will spread the word about his indispensable radio industry blog, The Radio Equalizer. He deserves your traffic and readership, not the left-wing idiots trying to cover for the failed Air America enterprise.

***
800pm Eastern update. Brian Maloney writes:

What our own sources are telling the Radio Equalizer is that two potential buyers have recently been looking to scoop up Air America’s assets. But internal board squabbling has created a disunited front, with some members looking to hand the network back to eccentric co- founder (and Huffington Post contributor) Sheldon Drobny, while the rest shop for buyers.

Jon Sinton, a former Air America and Clear Channel Radio executive, is said to be leading the effort to seek a purchaser.

Drobny, meanwhile, has been scrambling to figure out a way to retake the network and intends to rehire former COO Carl Ginsburg if he is successful…

…If Air America isn’t able to continue its programming, it opens the door for new feminist talk radio network GreenStone Media to take over some, or perhaps many, of its stations. As we’ve reported exclusively, GreenStone, founded by Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem, has gradually begun to take over Air America’s physical operations in New York City…

…What’s next for Air America? That isn’t clear, but what is known from our end is that the most explosive stories on what has gone on behind the scenes have yet to be written. Watch for them here.

Al Franken hasn’t been paid in some time, reports left-leaning Radar Online:

Is Air America Radio filing for bankruptcy on Friday? That’s what Think Progress, citing three sources, reported today. Calls to Air America executives weren’t returned, but star talk-show host Al Franken confirms that, once again, the troubled network is facing a serious cash crunch.

“I don’t know if that’s true or not,” Franken tells Radar when asked about the bankruptcy report. “We do know that there have been cash-flow problems. I haven’t been paid in a while. Like, there’s no cash flowing to me.”

Now he knows how the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club felt for so long.

Stay tuned.

***

Meanwhile, get up to speed on Air America’s road to bankruptcy here:

Air America: Out of air in NYC
Air America: Top exec bails
Air America: sinking ship
Air America: Losing flagship station?
Air America: The saga continues
Inside Air America: Al’s pal bails…and Philly station ditches, too
Air America: Groveling for cash
Inside Air America: The loan scandal deepens
Air America scrambles
Inside Air America: Al Franken’s lying lies
Inside Air America: The Sheldon Drobny Files
Wednesday scandal updates
New York Post: The Money Pit
Inside Air America: The Lizz Winstead case
Fraudulent Conveyance 101
Multicultural Radio says Air America owes it $1.5 million
Inside Air America: An investigative blog report (Part II)
Air Enron: Morning update
Inside Air America: An investigative blog report (Part I)
Air Enron: Al Franken needs help
Air Enron updates
Air Enron: The dam bursts
Air Enron: NYTimes corrects
Air Enron: MSM errs and lags
Air Enron: The NYTimes speaks! (or rather, whispers)
Air Enron: Heads roll, victims shafted
Air Enron: No letting up
Air Enron: Franken speaks again
Air Enron: Elite media blackout contd.
Air Enron: quotes of the day
Air Enron: Spitzer steps in
Air Enron: questions, questions
Air Enron: the blame game
Air Enron: thumb-twiddling MSM
Silence of the race hustlers
Air Enron: Al Franken speaks
Air Deadbeat: the saga continues
The Air America loophole
Air America is scrambling
Air America: Don’t blame us
Air America: Stealing from poor kids?!

comments (0)   trackbacks (29)