Attack on Air America

Well, I guess Air America must have made an impression. I was surprised to tune in this afternoon to hear Spanish when I expected to hear Al Franken.

Matt Drudge, that glistening example of journalistic excellence, reports that the network experienced "serious cash flow problems." The complaint comes from one Arthur Liu, owner of the stations in Los Angeles and Chicago carrying the network. Liu has claimed that a million-dollar check from Air America bounced. "The CHICAGO TRIBUNE is developing a story, insiders tell DRUDGE, on how the network was pulled off the air this morning in Chicago and Los Angeles, the network's second- and third-largest markets, because, the owner of both stations said, the network bounced a check and owes him more than $1 million! A charge the network strongly denies."

You will recall that the last time "insiders" confided in Drudge, the subject was the Kerry sex smear, which turned out to be a total concoction. History has a way of repeating itself.

Obviously, the sort of "insiders" who make a practice of speaking to Matt Drudge would love to relay the impression of Air America's insolvency, or cancellation over poor ratings. By creating an aura of financial irregularities, opponents can scare advertisers away from the network.

Rush Limbaugh has chimed in, of course, spinning the familiar spin: "It appears there is a problem with debt and that there is a problem with cash flow in certain sectors of the American economy ... this new lib radio net being the stellar example of same. We'll keep a sharp eye on this story."

A cash flow problem? Very strange... Previous reports on Air America's finances made clear that the company was in a position to broadcast for some years without turning a profit.

It is suspicious that only one man -- Arthur Liu, head of a company called Multicultural Radio Broadcasting -- has registered a complaint. Moreover, it seems unlikely that Air America would have increased their network from five to sixteen stations in so short a time span if the project had fared worse than expected.

Regarding the "bounced check" accusation, the aforementioned Chicago Tribune story highlights this rejoinder:


"That is an outright lie," said Evan Cohen, Air America's chairman, in a statement. "Multicultural Radio Broadcasting's conduct in this matter has been disgraceful.... [I]t is a clear violation of their contractual obligations."

Air America filed a complaint today in New York state Supreme Court charging Multicultural with breaching their contract and seeking an injunction to force Multicultural to restore the Air America broadcast on both stations.


One would presume that if Air America had indeed bounced a check, they would not have filed charges for breach of contract. Air America's parent company, Progress Media, has told host Randi Rhodes the following information (as relayed by one internet source). Read closely:


There are two contracts with Arthur Liu, the stations' owner; one for the Chicago station (WNTD) and one for the LA station (KBLA). Progress Media learned that Liu had been charging two different entities- Progress Media and another party- for time on the LA station at the same time.

Progress Media objected to this, figuring that charging two different entities for time on the same station at the same time amounted to theft, and disputed some of their charges related to the LA station. They did send Liu his checks on time but instructed Liu not to cash those checks until the dispute had been settled, and began negotiating to settle the dispute. Meanwhile, they allowed Liu to cash the checks for the Chicago station, since their dispute was related to the LA station only.

In the middle of negotiations over the contract dispute in LA, Liu pulled the plug not only on the LA station but the Chicago station as well, in violation of the Chicago station contract.

Again, no checks have bounced. Liu has been asked not to cash checks for the LA station until disputes over charges for that station's service are settled.


I have no idea whether this information is accurate. I have no idea if Mr. Liu has, as claimed, "double charged" for airtime. I would suggest, however, that if -- if -- someone commits an illegal action of this sort, that person becomes easily manipulated by powerful figures with a political agenda: "Play ball with us, and we can make your problems go away..."

Although I don't understand Spanish, I must note that the Spanish-language broadcast heard today seemed amateurish and non-commercial. Hard to believe that those guys could cough up bucks while Air America -- supposedly -- could not.

Finally, here is a press release from Air America itself:


But Arthur Liu --- not funny. He lied to us, he ripped us off and now we’re chasing him down with a pipe wrench. It’s a metaphor.

Here’s what really happened:

This Liu-ser was ripping off our boss Evan Cohen big time (he can’t do that, that’s our job). Evan found out about it and he stopped payment on a check to keep Liu-cifer from ripping him off even more. You can touch Evan for the occasional meal or drinks but a million bucks is crossing the line. And if we ever get low on cash, we can always call Barbra Streisand. Or any of the Baldwins. Except Stephen.

So we got screwed, Liu’d, and tattooed. How Liu can you get? In Liu of payment. Liu’d and lascivious behavior. These write themselves. What we’re getting at is that we hate him.


I would advise Air America to steer away from the hipster humorist tone: This is neither the time nor the place. I would also advise them to clear up one important seeming contradiction: Was there a "stop payment" or was Liu simply advised not to cash the check? Also, if Liu truly was charging two entities for the same airtime, would not the better course of action have been to bring suit, as opposed to issuing a stop payment?

I am sure that as more facts come out, we will get a more comprehensible accounting of the problem. In the meantime, responsible observers (a category which does not include Matt Drudge) should not accept Liu's version of events without considering the other side.

Alas, even if the man proves to be -- as the Air Americans suggest -- something of a shady operator, the spinners will use this story to discredit liberals as people who cannot manage money.