11.30.2005

Action/Event Proposal: Air America axes Marc Maron & Morning Sedition - Listener Forum/Goodbye Party?

December 15th will be the last day for Morning Sedition on Air America Radio. For those who have come to depend on Marc Maron, Mark Reilly & co. for razor sharp political talk, news and comedy in the mornings, it's going to be a very sad day.

I'd like to propose some type of informal action/event for AAR listeners and friends to show support for Marc Maron, and to let the decision-makers know what we think about where the station is headed. Maybe a good day would be Saturday, December 10th, somewhere in Manhattan during the day - a comfortable room with a stage of some sort. I know everyone's really busy right now, but if anyone is interested in this, please get in touch with me ASAP. Any and all feedback, suggestions for possible venues, etc., would be wonderful. Feel free to post comments and pass along to interested friends. There isn't much time left.

Personally, I rely on a variety of sources for my hourly news/political junkie fix (still love WNYC, WBAI, watch Democracy Now! all the time, etc.). Air America has been a wonderful thing. I hope itcontinues to grow and evolve for the better. In my humble opinion, killing Morning Sedition does not help the cause.

I'm not so great at being out front of an audience, not the best at big event organizing either. My forte is being behind the camera as they say - art direction, set decorating, etc. I'm going to try to reach out to as many groups and people as possible who might have strong feelings about the direction our beloved Air America is going. Thanks very much - hope to hear from you

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1 Comments:

Blogger Jessica D said...

This was posted by Rosco on the Morning Sedition message board at Air America Place:

(no link for this, cross-posted from DU)

Air America Mornings to Take Over Morning-Drive

Mark Riley and Rachel Maddow to Host Shows on “Air America Mornings”

NEW YORK-November 29, 2005- Air America Radio announced today a change in its morning line-up. Beginning Jan. 2, the new morning format, “Air America Mornings,” will broadcast weekdays from 5-9am EST. The announcement was made today by CEO Danny Goldberg.

Veteran radio talk show host and current co-host of “Morning Sedition,” Mark Riley, will lead off “Air America Mornings” from 5-7am EST. Riley will highlight the top news stories of the day and will also interview various guests every morning.

Rachel Maddow will take her highly-rated and acclaimed show, “The Rachel Maddow Show,” to the 7-9am EST slot. In addition to continuing to give listeners fast-paced news and witty soundbites, Maddow will also interview a variety of guests. Maddow has previously guest-hosted the highly successful “The Al Franken Show,” heard weekly 12-3pm EST and will do so again the week of December 12. Maddow continues her night job as contributor to MSNBC’s “The Situation with Tucker Carlson.”

Comedian and co-host of “Morning Sedition,” Marc Maron, is returning to Los Angeles and is currently in negotiations with Air America Radio to host his own syndicated show. He will be a regular contributor to “Air America Mornings”

Paul Marszaleck will serve as Executive Producer of “Air America Mornings.” Marszalek is a twenty five year veteran of radio and television, having served as Vice President of Music Programming at VH1/MTV Networks and having held senior management positions at KFOG/San Francisco and WXRT/Chicago. He has also consulted several NPR stations around the country and various stations and networks internationally.

"The upcoming year is going to be crucial year for Air America, for morning drive time radio in general, and for the United States. In the past several months, Rachel Maddow has experienced dramatic growth in visibility and audience and we are very excited about giving her a bigger stage. Mark Riley is a respected broadcaster and we are equally excited that he will shine in his new role,” said Goldberg. “At the same time, we are well aware of the intense and committed following that Marc Maron's brilliant work on Air America has created and would like him to be a major voice on Air America in the future. "

“We are very excited about the launch of ‘Air America Mornings,’ both in NY and across the Air America Network. Beginning in January, you will hear a tightly formatted, flawless presentation of the most important topics of the day by Mark and Rachel, as well most compelling guests from the world of politics and entertainment,” said President Gary Krantz. “We are also committed to generating at least one show in 2006 from Los Angeles to connect us more closely with the progressive creative community there, and thus to offer our affiliates a widening menu of politics, comedy, information, and entertainment."

“We are thrilled that we finally have found a way to display all three of these great talents on Air America Radio,” said President of Programming Jon Sinton.

With Mark and Rachel we have two of the most intelligent, engaging and committed broadcasters on the air today,” said COO Carl Ginsburg. “I would put them up against any talk radio hosts--- they are sharp, smart and ahead of the curve.”

Rachel Maddow has a Doctorate in Politics from Oxford University and a degree in Public Policy from Stanford. She was the first openly gay American to win a Rhodes Scholarship. Her background is in commercial radio (WRSI, WRNX) and political activism. Prior to launching "The Rachel Maddow Show," Rachel co-hosted Air America's "Unfiltered" with Chuck D and Lizz Winstead.

Mark Riley has been on the WLIB airwaves for more than 30 years, his seasoned experience produced such high-profile interviews with President Bill Clinton, President Nelson Mandela, Jean Bertrand Aristide, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Lena Horne, & Spike Lee to name a few. In addition to radio, Riley is a popular TV political analyst with bi-weekly appearances on the “Road to City Hall” on New York 1 News; commentary on BET, CNN, CBS Early Show, & MSNBC.

(Sorry, I don't have the link.. Our local Air America station manager posted this on his great forum )

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Wow, talk about spin. Check out the board at www.airamericaplace.com

11/30/2005 7:27 PM  

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