Wizblog

Who's Listening Now?

If you haven't heard much about the funding scandal involving the liberal radio network Air America, don't feel badly. Conservative bloggers have been rolling in it like pigs in mud for several days now, (and why not?) but the rest of the world is still in the dark because the major media can't run from this story fast enough.

As I understand it, Evan Cohen, ex-Chairman of the Air America network, also happened to be the director of development (aka fund raising) for a non-profit organization called the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, which relied heavily on government contracts for its funding. As much as $800,000 was lent to, or otherwise diverted by Cohen from the charity's government funding to Air America.

Air America for their part has said, variously, that they agree they have to pay back all the money....that they're not sure they ever received much less spent the money...and now they're saying that since they're under new ownership, and the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club has folded, there is no responsibility to pay back the money, even though they agreed "months ago" to repay all the funds from this little "transaction", made by a guy (Cohen) who hasn't been associated with their fine network since sometime last year.

Got it?

Learn all you need to learn by checking out Brian Maloney, who is credited with breaking the story, and then reliable blogger mainstays like Michelle Malkin and Ed Morrissey who always synthesize and roundup stories like this one so thoroughly. (See also an MM update here)

It has not been a secret to anyone who has been following Air America since its founding that it has had funding, organizational, management, and ratings problems. Large infusions of cash from sympathetic rich liberals, preferably of the sort who aren't expecting to be repaid, are just what the network needed. What's even better for them is if the sympathetic rich liberals can use other people's money to do the job. Your money, it turns out.

Rich people can do whatever they wish with their own money, within the law, even invest it in (donate it to?) failing radio enterprises. The thing that gets my blood pressure up is that the funds appear to have been government contract money, that is, taxpayer money, diverted from its intended use, which happened to be youth work for poor kids and services for Alzheimers sufferers among other things, and used to promote a decidedly partisan political agenda in the media. So what if no one was listening! It's still crooked as hell. Surely there have to be some fraud indictments in there somewhere.

When the whistle blew on them, they simply folded the not-for-profit entity and claimed all the bad guys are gone from the network organization. Neat.

Lefty bloggers are naturally pooh-poohing the story, but one can only imagine the self-righteous media orgy we would be experiencing if an executive from a conservative talk radio network had been caught diverting taxpayer dollars from a charitable organization "for the kids" either for his own use, or to promote a radical right political agenda over the air.

Austin Bay had the line of the day:

If Air America were a conservative radio network its corrupt funding trail and cynical abuse of a poverty program would be front page news at the NY Times and full-time mega-scandal at CNN.

Of course, if it were a conservative radio network it might: (1) have an audience and (2) ad revenue.

UPDATE 8/3: Ed Morrissey of Captains Quarters, writing for The Weekly Standard:

The mission of the mainstream media to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, to tell truth to power, and to hold the reverse Robin Hoods accountable for their malfeasance wouldn't depend on the politics of the criminals.

Would it?

UPDATE 8/7: Hugh Hewitt thinks the mainstream media freeze-out" may be about to thaw, but I'm not betting on it.

Posted by dan at August 2, 2005 02:10 AM | TrackBack