STATEMENT OF AIR AMERICA RADIO, FROM CHAIR CHARLIE KIREKER

[gateley]

By air america

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2008

New York - Air America has suspended on-air host Randi Rhodes for making inappropriate statements about prominent figures, including Senator Hillary Clinton, at a recent public appearance on behalf of Air America in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air America affiliate station.

"Air America encourages strong opinions about public affairs but does not condone such abusive, ad hominem language by our Hosts," said chair Charlie Kireker.


http://www.airamerica.com/

[Sweet Pea]

1. Good for him.

[gateley]

3. Comments on the site --

both supportive of his action and condemning him for it.

[Breeze54]

39. Please watch what you say when you aren't at work too!

Be very careful in your cheer leading. It may come back to bite you. :grr:

[Ian David]

Too bad they couldn't have said they agree about Ferraro. That would have been funny. n/t

[Canuckistanian]

2. ad hominem statements by Randi?

Say it ain't so!

[Cooley Hurd]

4. "Air America encourages strong opinions about public affairs but does not condone..."

"...the First Amendment."

Gotcha, Chuck...:eyes:

[Dissent Is Patriotic]

5. I am shocked that so many people on DU have

forgotten about the 1st Amendment. They seem to also have forgotten that AAR is supposed to support it. I am a woman and I don't find what she said offensive at all...I call politicians whores all the time...male and female...this is a load of crap.

[zalinda]

8. And if she called Obama a n****r, would that still be ok? n/t

[Dissent Is Patriotic]

14. If you are implying that the n word

is used in the same way that mediawhore, labelwhore, corporatewhore are used, then I'd like to see an example. Otherwise, I'm missing your point.

[zalinda]

16. She didn't say media whore, or any other

quantifying label, she said WHORE. Now you can also hear the word n****r in many places, including popular music, but it's not something that you go around saying, because people would lynch you. You can't even touch with a ten foot pole anything that might be racist, but you can slam a woman with the label whore and it is a-okay with progressives.

zalinda

[Matariki]

36. I think she actually said 'fucking whore'

x(

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Well if she was acting as an AAR employee that is one thing

she wasn't... ;listening to the program director of the San Fran Station.

There is more to this story than just first amendment or company policies or anything like that. THis is quite gray right now

But to clarify AS AN EMPLOYEE, if she was acting as an employee, you don't have those rights. JUst an FYI.

Given she was not... that changes the whole picture, as in she was acting as a free agent

[oregonjen]

11. I'm not sure I understand

"at a recent public appearance on behalf of Air America in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air America affiliate station."

The statement in the OP clearly says she was at an AAR sponsored event.

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. I'm listening to the ACTUAL program director of the AAR station in San Fran

and she was the star of the show, but didn't have a thing to do with AAR.

In other words, she was a free agent, or as close as you can get

If she was acting as an employee that is one thing... company rules and all of that. But if she was acting as a free agent, then those company rules don't apply... according to the program director, the latter is the case.

I can smell a lawsuit, at the very least

[mondo joe]

25. She's not an employee. She has a contract. This would be subject to the terms of the contract. NT

[mondo joe]

17. The first amendment doesn't guarantee anyone a radio show.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. "

Do you see a violation of that here?

[EFerrari]

18. It was her right to use her First Amendment rights.

It was her employer's right to disagree with her, using their First Amendment rights and to suspend her for damaging their brand and likely, violating her contract with them.

Have you ever read a radio contract? You can't call your granny blue headed.

How much clearer can that be?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

22. It's NOT a first amendment issue

While I disagree with AAR (and I'm not even a fan of RR), don't make this into something it's not. Randi's free to say whatever she wants, but she doesn't have a constitutional right to be syndicated on radio. They're a privvate company and they legally have a right to determine who they want as their lineup.

Call them spinelss, knee-jerk whatever, there's plenty of good arguments to bash them. But the first amendment isn't applicable. Now if the governemnt banned her from theair waves or fined her,that would be different.

It is censorship, at the corporatelvel, but it's not a constitutional issue.

Sorry, it's one of my pet peeves when people use this argument.

[Redbear]

34. Bravo. (n/t)

[TriggerGal]

46. EXACTLY!!

I may not agree with what one has to say ... but, I'll defend to the death their right to say it!!


Here's what others have said about it ...

Sam Seder:

I’ll be filling in for Randi again tomorrow and maybe a couple of days next week. I spoke to Randi today before subbing for her. I’m not going to characterize her feelings- it’s not my place to do that.It’s true that I feel Randi has taught me nearly all that I know about radio and consider her a friend but that hasn’t affected my perspective on this.

Personally, I think this is ridiculous. That said, I do believe that the network has the right to take issue with it.

It’s a stand up routine- and it offended none of the people who paid to see it.... No one else had to watch that tape - it wasn’t presented on the airwaves, etc etc....Would I have used the words she did, no, but I can’t promise that they would be any less "offensive".

Anyway, I have no idea how long the suspension will be or when we will know or why it’s not set. I’m willing to sub for Randi but I don’t like the circumstances. I certainly don’t want someone sitting in her seat who’s going to be a management toady.


Stephanie Miller Sticks up for Randi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB1JZ__TV_Q


Janeane Garofalo sticks up for Randi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDYsWZnWtXs


Exercise YOUR right to freedom of speech - Let your voice be heard!!!

Petition to reinstate Randi: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/reinstaterandi

EMAIL Air America: [e-mail]

[cloud75]

6. good for aa randi has been over the top lately. n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. Listening to the Program director of the local AAR affiliate

she was NOT acting as an employee of AAR, but as a free agent and a star of a show

That puts a whole new spin on this.. doesn't it

[Cleita]

9. Randi has publicly stated her dislike of Hillary Clinton as

a candidate for a couple of weeks now. Since the AAR nabobs are openly in support of Hillary, it would seem that they pounced on the opportunity to shut her up. What she does or says outside of her job shouldn't affect her job security, or there was a time you could be openly whatever you were outside of work or there would be grounds for a lawsuit. How, Reagan's America has changed the workplace.

I hope Randi finds another radio outlet like Mike Malloy did and that will be three hours less that many of us will be listening to AAR in the future. I hope Rachel Maddow gets her own show on MSNBC right after Keith Olbermann and that Sam Seder finds a permanent gig elsewhere too. He too was not kindly treated by AAR.

[Spike89]

13. Representing AAR at an AAR-sponsored event

And the 1st amendment has absolutely nothing to do with this issue! There is no constitutional freedom from repercussions of what you say. Even if the event had nothing whatsoever to do with AAR, management has every right to decide if she gets to speak for them on air. If anything, this is a labor issue and the question comes down to her contract and whether they can suspend her. She has no more constitutional right to their airwaves than the callers Randi routinely hangs up on.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Not according to the program director of the San Fran station

according to him she was acting as a free agent.

As they say, now that more data has come in, this is NOT that black and white any longer

[EFerrari]

19. You can't be under contract to a radio show and act as a free agent.

She can't have it both ways. It's just business.

ETA: Those contracts are notorius for even regulating your behavior in the powder room. Rand knew that up front.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Yep, that is why the lawyers are involved right now

and this will be a nice dust off

Now personally I see a pattern on AAR... and IF I were a host at AAR.. I'd be calling my lawyer and my agent about now

[EFerrari]

33. And your lawyer would tell you to read your contract.

There's probably a little morals clause tucked in there somewhere.

Know what else? The more fuss she kicks up, the less the chances are that she gets her gig back:
Unwritten rule #24: Do not make management look bad even if they are wrong or you're fired.

[orleans]

44. janeane garofolo called in to randi's show today and talked to sam

http://server7.whiterosesociety.org/content/rhodes/RhodesShow-(4-4-2008).mp3

"suspending randi shows such weakness"

"maybe they claim that they don't want to be represented that way. well then, they should dump some of those conservative voices that spew their garbage on this network"

"has she not built up enough good credit in the bank of supporting every good democratic, liberal cause over the years?"

"i really cannot understand this corporate decision--how they think it benefits the reputation of the company such as it is

"this is randi rhodes we're talking about. this person has done more for good, democratic, liberal causes for years than most citizens. putting her life in danger to do so, death threat after death threat, on behalf of this station. and i'm sure the decision that was made to suspend her was made out of fear and weakness on behalf of whoever made it.


"they owe the listeners of randi and to the station an explanation for this "breach" of conduct

"management needs to go on the air and explain themselves"

email: [e-mail]

[TriggerGal]

47. Bless her pea pickin' heart!!

Here's what others have also said:


Sam Seder:

I’ll be filling in for Randi again tomorrow and maybe a couple of days next week. I spoke to Randi today before subbing for her. I’m not going to characterize her feelings- it’s not my place to do that.It’s true that I feel Randi has taught me nearly all that I know about radio and consider her a friend but that hasn’t affected my perspective on this.

Personally, I think this is ridiculous. That said, I do believe that the network has the right to take issue with it.

It’s a stand up routine- and it offended none of the people who paid to see it.... No one else had to watch that tape - it wasn’t presented on the airwaves, etc etc....Would I have used the words she did, no, but I can’t promise that they would be any less "offensive".

Anyway, I have no idea how long the suspension will be or when we will know or why it’s not set. I’m willing to sub for Randi but I don’t like the circumstances. I certainly don’t want someone sitting in her seat who’s going to be a management toady.


Stephanie Miller Sticks up for Randi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB1JZ__TV_Q


For those who would like to hear Janeane saying those words ... here's the link ... to hear it with your own ears!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDYsWZnWtXs


Exercise YOUR right to freedom of speech - Let your voice be heard!!!

Petition to reinstate Randi: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/reinstaterandi

EMAIL Air America: [e-mail]

[krkaufman]

42. Well, there *is* a difference between documented and communicated company policy ...

... and making a statement that company management finds politically objectionable -- if not to the actions taken by the company, then at least by the response of company's customers.

[Synnical]

20. "Their airwaves"? You mean, of course, the publicly owned airwaves

that are leased to AAR? Just checking.

And from what I heard Sam Seder say today, Randi was doing a comedy routine, and political satire is indeed protected by the First Amendment.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

24. however, it is their stations and affiliate network

just to clarify

[Synnical]

28. Right, Management Decision that is wrong

Progressive talk radio should not be as incendiary as Right Wing Mush. Sure.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[Mezzo]

30. corporate sponsored event. They paid her airfare. they paid for her hotel. nt

[kevinmc]

23. OMG She Called Politicians F*cking Whores ..... they all are. n/t

[DaDooRonRon]

26. Translation

Mark Green is mad.

The new DINO owners are mad.

Hillary is mad.

We can't make Hillary mad, that's why we hired the inside the beltway whore (gasp! that word!) that is Bill Press.

Randi gets it, you see. Ms. Clinton is about as much of a progressive as a gravel pit, and now the DLC whores (oh no! not again!) are up in arms that their diety-given right to the throne is in jeopardy.

Randi, line 1 - some guy named Mike from Nova M.

[Hieronymus]

27. I've been a fan of Bill Press for years, but I can't listen to him anymore. ...

He's whoring for Hillary.

[DaDooRonRon]

29. I can recall him from years ago, on Crossfire

That was back in the days when I thought any of that talking head crap actually mattered. :)

He's just another clueless boob who talks to Washington folk and thinks he's dialed in.

I listened to him once on AAR - pure pablum.

Thank goodness for Tony Kornheiser in the mornings. :)

[liberal1973]

32. Yeah Bill Press is terrible.

[liberal texan]

31. randi has been obssessed with nonissues and colorful issues for about 3 weeks

she needs to know there is other things outside of the campaign to talk about.

[Breeze54]

40. 3 weeks? Three weeks?

Where the H have you been? :silly:

She's been political all the time she's been on the air with AAR!!

:rofl:

You must be new to listening to her show. ;)

[liberal texan]

41. ever since she took a side in the race

nothing else can be covered.
she has fell in the trap of the mainstream media.

[gort]

35. This man is a Fucking Whore

God Damn Air America!

Bring back Randi, you cowards!

[TTUBatfan2008]

37. Randi should go to Nova M with Malloy...

Air America is a crappily run operation to begin with.

[TriggerGal]

38. PETITION to Reinstate Randi

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/reinstaterandi

[fascisthunter]

43. "Air America encourages blah, blah, blah...."

censorship

[mitchtv]

45. Is it ok to call her a foul mouthed b- tch?

I thought not, Michelle O a C*nt?
I don't think so.
Give it a rest, Randi drinks too much, and went too far. Corporations will do what they have to do. there is no free speech on someone else's dime. Those crying free speech are misunderstanding the constitution.