The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Not Since the Collapse of Culture 11 . . .

Posted on | January 21, 2010 | 18 Comments

. . . has there been any news less surprising than the failure of Air America:

Air America Radio, a radio network that was launched in 2004 as a liberal alternative to Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators, on Thursday shut down abruptly due to financial woes.
The network once boasted hosts such as Al Franken and Rachel Maddow, but struggled from the outset, including multiple management shake-ups, a bankruptcy in 2006 and sale for $4.25 million the following year.
Air America ceased airing new programs Thursday afternoon and said it will soon file to be liquidated under Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It began broadcasting reruns of programs and would end those as well Monday night.
“The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America’s business. This past year has seen a `perfect storm’ in the media industry generally,” the company said in a statement on its Web site. . . .

Michelle Malkin does cartwheels. Air America offered a product for which there was no demand.  Conservative talk radio exists primarily because of the market demand for an alternative to the liberal major media. This market went untapped until repeal of the Fairness Doctrine permitted radio stations to air conservative opinion without rebuttal. Rush Limbaugh saw the opportunity and thereby a new medium was born.

Air America’s inception was due to dumbed-down thinking, the belief that everything the Right does must be counterbalanced by the Left. But there is no mass market for liberal talk radio — at least not a market that is not already served by National Public Radio, Pacifica, etc.

The Left and the Right are different. Nothing could be more stupid than trying to create a left-wing analog of a successful conservative phenomenon and expecting it to succeed on the basis of, “Well, those other guys made it work.”

However, the reverse is also true. Culture 11 was supposed to be a “conservative Slate.com,” and went belly-up in six months. Daily Caller is supposed to be the “Huffington Post of the Right.” OK, fine. But where is the evidence that the Right needs, wants, or will support its own HuffPo? Or rather, where is the evidence that such a need is not already being served by existing information outlets?

Market-based thinking generally leads to more profitable ventures than political thinking. Rush Limbaugh is both conservative and successful, but it was his market-based insight — identifying an unmet demand and filling it — that accounts for his success. There are many conservative imitators who have failed, which shows that mere political opinion is not the secret of his success.

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Comments

18 Responses to “Not Since the Collapse of Culture 11 . . .”

  1. Joe
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 5:29 am

    It was a completely boring, corrupt, and defective product, a start up dreamed up by an idiot con artist.

    What is amazing it lasted as long as it did. It was like a tape worm in the bowels of media.

  2. Joe
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 12:29 am

    It was a completely boring, corrupt, and defective product, a start up dreamed up by an idiot con artist.

    What is amazing it lasted as long as it did. It was like a tape worm in the bowels of media.

  3. Joe
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 5:42 am

    Air America had too much competition, with the networks and CNN. To add insult to their injuries, Senate and MSNBC stole their clown act.

  4. Joe
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 12:42 am

    Air America had too much competition, with the networks and CNN. To add insult to their injuries, Senate and MSNBC stole their clown act.

  5. Proof
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 6:20 am

    Err America : RIP

  6. Proof
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 1:20 am

    Err America : RIP

  7. Hellrider
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 6:49 am

    I wonder if this will prompt a renewed effort by the Obama censorship tzar Mark Loyd at the FCC to try and shut down Conservative talk radio in the name of diversity again?

  8. Hellrider
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 1:49 am

    I wonder if this will prompt a renewed effort by the Obama censorship tzar Mark Loyd at the FCC to try and shut down Conservative talk radio in the name of diversity again?

  9. I seem to have lost a week… « DaTechguy's Blog
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 5:23 am

    […] hey at least unlike Air America my normal life is still there. It’s been on life support for a while but with Tuesday’s election I think the […]

  10. Thrasymachus
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 11:58 am

    And yet David Frum, Peggy Noonan, Conor Friedersdorf, Rod Dreher and the like constantly assure us there is a huge market for the kind of chardonnay conservatism that was espoused by Culture 11.

  11. Thrasymachus
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 6:58 am

    And yet David Frum, Peggy Noonan, Conor Friedersdorf, Rod Dreher and the like constantly assure us there is a huge market for the kind of chardonnay conservatism that was espoused by Culture 11.

  12. Bob Belvedere
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 12:37 pm

    1) As my Grandmother used to say: Good riddence to bad rubbish.

    2) Sadly, methinks Hellrider is 100% spot-on.

    3) Thrasymachus: Chardonnay Conservatism, that’s perfect.

    4) Stacy understands the market forces.

  13. Bob Belvedere
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 7:37 am

    1) As my Grandmother used to say: Good riddence to bad rubbish.

    2) Sadly, methinks Hellrider is 100% spot-on.

    3) Thrasymachus: Chardonnay Conservatism, that’s perfect.

    4) Stacy understands the market forces.

  14. Bob Belvedere
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 2:44 pm

    Quoted from and Linked to at:
    Start Your Day Off Right

  15. Bob Belvedere
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 9:44 am

    Quoted from and Linked to at:
    Start Your Day Off Right

  16. Mark J. Goluskin
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 4:58 pm

    The left does not get what makes conservative talk radio successful. It is the personality of each host. Sean Hannity is different from Rush, different from Dennis Prager and so on. Each host brings to them something different. That plus the fact that those of us tired of the propaganda mill known as the Obamawhore media have a real outlet. A place where we can share the ideas that make conservatism great.

  17. Mark J. Goluskin
    January 22nd, 2010 @ 11:58 am

    The left does not get what makes conservative talk radio successful. It is the personality of each host. Sean Hannity is different from Rush, different from Dennis Prager and so on. Each host brings to them something different. That plus the fact that those of us tired of the propaganda mill known as the Obamawhore media have a real outlet. A place where we can share the ideas that make conservatism great.

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