Air America 2.0 — Any Different from the First Time Around?

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In January, Clara wrote about the plan to sell the financially-troubled Air America to brothers Stephen and Mark Green. That deal was consummated yesterday and Mark Green celebrated the event by posting his vision for the new Air America (a/k/a Air America 2.0) on Huffington Post.

Unfortunately, having read Green’s essay, I’m a bit skeptical of the “new” attributes of Air America. They sound an awful lot like the old attributes — the ones that sent them into Chapter 11. Green asserts in the “Huff Po” that Air America will now:

  • “[Focus] on the radio fundamentals of making a strong line-up even stronger.”
  • “[Connect] to other progressive membership organizations to be mutually fortifying.”
  • “[Be] a multi-media content company involving other distribution platforms — Internet, blogging, audio and video streaming, mobile, social networks, and more.”
  • I think you can do all three of those things and still not make any money if the idea of progressive radio is a fundamentally flawed one, or if the execution of your core product is shoddy, or if there simply isn’t a market for what you are selling. Green also says Air America will “be a business with a sharp point of view. The era of on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand liberalism is over” (what, AA didn’t take a strong point of view before?) and that “Air America will aggressively cover national politics and policies in ways that will be informative, opinionated and entertaining.”

    Well, okay. It sounds a little like, “We’re going to do it better this time!” but I’m willing to be optimistic. Air America covering and maybe even breaking news would be cool, and some genuinely funny content would be welcomed. Go for it, boys, and good luck.

    Any readers who have heard Air America in the last few days (or in the next few) should leave their thoughts in the comments. Any material changes?

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    DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

    Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

    And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

    Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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