Has Anyone Considered that Randi Rhodes could be at fault?

[Cato the Younger]

First of all, I do enjoy listening to Randi a few times a week (but have to admit I enjoy listening to Mike Malloy's vitriol much more) but there are a few things that bother me.

This is the second time in less than a year Randi, for whatever reasons, has been pulled from the radio. We all know the reasons why Air America dropped her, it was due to what she said about Hillary Clinton and then Randi mentioned that Air America wanted to see "how valuable of an asset she was to them". Okay, we all wrote to AAR and our local affiliates demanding she gets back on the air post haste and in one week she was back on most of her affiliates.

This time around, in only 10 months mind you, she's off the air again. We were first told it was technical issues which people could only be expected to buy into for one or two days at the most. And then we get a cryptic message from Anita at NovaM saying that it is up to Randi to decide if she will come back to the radio on NovaM or not. Randi has mentioned on several occasions that she is in total control of her message board as as of today (Saturday) she has been totally silent to her fans.

If you are an affiliate would you honestly want to have Randi on your station if this amazing talent simply may or may not be on the air? If you're a sponsor, wouldn't you want your products advertised on Randi's show (with Randi) and not some fill in guest?

Beyond the drama of Randi being on the air and then off there is a real problem with running a radio business that this "drama" is causing potentially irreversible damage to. Many have claimed that NovaM will die without Randi but they forget that NovaM was around when Mike Malloy was it's major headliner just 10 months ago. I agree this will hurt NovaM but I think that many of the doomsayers (myself included) are not really thinking that will happen; we are just upset at what is happening with Randi.

So why would I think Randi is at fault? First and foremost, I accept the premise that it is up to Randi to make a statement to her fans as to her intentions to come back to national syndication or not. SHE HAS NOT DONE THAT!! I can't understand why this blatant betrayal is being ignored by her more hardened fans but she is acting either like a prima dona or is too embarrassed to let her fans know what is happening. (Perhaps she is acting a bit like a 16 year old girl in a working class family who demanded a brand new BMW then was told no?)

Some have said this is none of our business. But liberal talk radio IS OUR BUSINESS!! It is the listeners that are supporting the sponsors and writing to the affiliates. Many of us subscribe to the host's pod casts on a monthly basis. We have a stake in liberal radio. We have a right and an obligation to get the facts from the companies that syndicate our voices as well as from the talent that provides a mouth piece for progressive ideas. We all know Clear Channel and other corporations that run radio stations will drop progressive radio the second they get the chance.

Maybe the corporate model for liberal talk radio is unworkable. Maybe we should do "co-op radio"? Have the listeners put more of a personal stake in a new form or radio syndication that would operate much as a credit union?

[rucky]

1. Do Limbaugh's or O'Reilly's syndicators pull them off the air?

I guess they don't really say anything as outrageous as Randi.

:eyes:

[SammyWinstonJack]

2. Good point!

:thumbsup:

[Democrat 4 Ever]

4. I'm coming late to the party. I noticed yesterday she wasn't on

XM on my ride home from my mother's house (usually don't listen to her during a work day). They had someone else on and from the conversation I got there was an "issue" with Randi. What is it this time?

I'm not a huge Randi fan. She is too vitriolic and mean and often doesn't hear a thing her guests or callers say because she won't shut up and listen for 30 seconds. That said, she is a good liberal talk show host when we desperately need them. She is 10x better than anything on the right side of the dial on any given day.

What's going, inquiring mind is wondering.

[Greyhound]

9. I'm under the impression that it is Randi that has pulled Randi off the air.

I really don't follow this much as she is not one of my favorites, but I am interested in NovaM and their future.

So, what's the story?

[polmaven]

13. Maybe.....

they don't have as much integrity as Randi's syndicators?

[Ian David]

3. Just let Randi be Randi. n/t

[Justpat]

10. Letting Randi be Randi means letting her shout over her guests

and make every issue about her.

I used to listen to her years ago when I lived in Boynton Beach, FL. so I am familiar with her before and after
her move to NY to Air America.

I attended BIll Press' live radio show at Lizner Hall at GW Jan18th. Randi was there along with Stephanie Miller,
Ron Masters, Ed Schultz, and a few others. No matter what the topic, Randi made sure that she interrupted
everyone and spoke while others were trying to answer a question. She was really offensive. No matter how
passionate she might be about certain issues, she is an appalling host. She mistakes rudeness for assertiveness
every time. She basically ruined certain portions of the show that night for everyone. Bill Press seemed at a loss
as to how to shut her up.

If she goes back to her local radio show in Palm Beach, FL, maybe she will be happier - but she needs to get
some sense of how to LISTEN if she is going to continue in radio.

[Ian David]

11. I am shocked that someone in radio is obsessed with their own ego & in love with their own voice.

This sort of thing is entirely unheard of.

[Zen Democrat]

5. I like Randi about 60% of the time. The other 40% her ego gets in my way.

I don't like her incessant name-dropping for one thing. But most of all, she's not always right and she seems to have a problem with ever being wrong about something. I've heard her make egregious errors in fact over the air, and when a caller attempts to correct her she goes nuclear on them, the cringe-worthy nuclear. It's just not my idea of progressive. Mike Malloy on the other hand goes nuclear and makes me laugh and cheer. I guess it's all in the attitude. Her issues with Al Franken bother me, as well. I don't condone internecine warfare among our people.

[hlthe2b]

7. Ditto...

and if, as I suspect, this is another prima dona routine, I'm done with her.

[Ian David]

12. Correct on all points. I'm not a huge Randi fan for those reasons and more.

Still, she's better than Lionel.

Not that the bar should be set so low.

[soothsayer]

6. pretty sure it's just a contract negotiation stunt

reeeelax

[tularetom]

8. I'm not a regular listener because the station I usually listen to

carries Hartmann and Schultz during the day. She may be on in the evening but I don't have it on then.

I like her outspokenness on political issues but I don't give a rats ass about her artistic or contractual difficulties with her bosses.

I never hear anyone else on the radio bitching about the people they work for. Well maybe Stephanie Miller talking about the guy who owns the show trying to kill her for the insurance money.