Posted on 12/13/2006 12:33:18 PM PST by Hillarys Gate Cult
The crowd at the High Noon Saloon hit its 399-person capacity at 7:20 p.m.
The draw was not the usual touring band or local act, but a rally where listeners and advertisers of The Mic 92.1 vowed to continue fighting Clear Channel's recent decision to replace its progressive talk station with Fox Sports Radio.
"From up here, this doesn't look like a dead format," said Aldous Tyler of the Madison Pagan Unity Council as he addressed the crowd.
Tyler said the nation's eyes were on Madison as it took on a media conglomerate over an unpopular programming change.
"This has ripples," he said. "We win, this goes everywhere."
Tom Hamer, who does door security at the bar, said 490 people in all turned out over the course of Tuesday night to listen to Air America co-founder Terry Kelly, former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, local business owners and media reformers denounce Clear Channel's move.
Valerie Walasek, who spearheaded an online petition drive and organized Tuesday's rally, urged audience members to be persistent - something she said she learned in the military when, after being injured in basic training, she pressed for medical treatment until she was finally discharged.
"That's an important lesson for us," she said. "Don't get discouraged. The airwaves belong to us and we will take them back."
Walasek noted that as of Tuesday evening her petition had gathered 5,076 signatures and "380 pages of comment."
The purpose of the rally was to show public and business support for the radio station. Jeff Tyler, Clear Channel Madison vice president, has blamed poor ad sales for the programming switch; Tyler said the decision was also due in part to the uncertain financial status of Air America, which recently filed for bankruptcy.
But critics charge the conservative Texas-based owners of Clear Channel pulled the plug right after the November elections because they were alarmed by the electoral victories of Democrats. And they say Clear Channel didn't effectively sell ads for the progressive news station.
Steve Sperling, manager of the Barrymore Theater, said that when popular radio host Stephanie Miller packed his 900-capacity theater for a live show, Clear Channel sent its sales reps to the show.
"They got to see that these people had money and in the end they didn't do a thing with it, and that's a real shame," he said. "It's a failure of the sales staff and the station to go out and get the advertisers they needed."
Soglin concurred.
"We didn't fail - we did our jobs as consumers," he said. "It was the station that failed in its ability to find advertisers for that market."
Soglin said there is an easy way for Clear Channel to solve the problem.
"All Clear Channel would have to do is tear up the contract with Fox Sports," he said. But, he added, if The Mic is silenced, citizens have recourse down the line when all of Clear Channel's licenses come up for review before the Federal Communications Commission.
"For every ounce of energy we put into it, we can create a pound of aggravation for them," he said.
Barb Wright, owner of the Dardanelles restaurant on Monroe Street, who advertises on The Mic, said a "huge percentage" of her customers listen to the station.
"In a democracy, the media has a duty to us and that's to keep us informed," she said. "We want the message to go out to Clear Channel that the airwaves belong to the people and the people want progressive radio."
Brandi Edwards, owner of Blooms, a flower shop on Odana Road, is also an advertiser.
"The support I got (from customers) was phenomenal," Edwards said. She said she doubled the amount she was going to spend on advertising in November and December.
Other businesses represented Tuesday night included Quivey's Grove, Kessler's Diamonds, Hawk's Bar and Grill, Madison Computer Works and Mad Cat. Donna Peckett and Danielle Dresden of Tap It/New Works Theater performed a rap and tap piece, and U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz sent in statements expressing disappointment at Clear Channel's decision. Representatives from Planned Parenthood, the Alliance for Animals, Amnesty International and Military Families for Peace testified that The Mic has given their causes a voice on the radio.
Kelly said he just returned from a trip to New York seeking financial partners for the struggling Air America.
He said a potential deal is in the works. "Hopefully by mid-January we will be able to cement the future of Air America."
Walasek said after the rally that supporters of The Mic are looking at alternatives, including potentially purchasing a radio station of their own and negotiating with other local stations to pick up The Mic's programming.
At this point, she's ready to give it her all.
"As of Friday, I'll be on disability full time," she said. "I'll have 24/7 to work on this thing. I'm not going to give up."
If anyone needs proof of how the left just doesn't get it with how the free market or even real life works then here it is.
The Boston affiliate is changing to a Mexican Music format. Oh the IRONY!
Honest to God, before I got to this sentence I thought to myself, "I wonder how long until I get to the part about the petition..." The purpose of the rally was to show public and business support for the radio station.
They don't quite understand the concepts. "Public support" manifests itself as ratings; "business support" manifests itself as ad buys. Standing in a room and shouting isn't quite the same.
You are not kidding.
How's this gem?
"As of Friday, I'll be on disability full time," she said. "I'll have 24/7 to work on this thing. I'm not going to give up."
Admitting disability fraud. "I'll be on disability so I'll be able to work more." Priceless.
Or this:
"That's an important lesson for us," she said. "Don't get discouraged. The airwaves belong to us and we will take them back."
LOL! Not a clue. If the airwaves belong to her, why doesn't she start her own radio station?
I like this as well:
"The support I got (from customers) was phenomenal," Edwards said. She said she doubled the amount she was going to spend on advertising in November and December."
"Was going to". Yeah. Right.
Um, she's fully disabled and receiving government money, but she can "work" full time? 24/7? I know a lot of employers that would hire someone like that. Typical lib.
So here's their message to any future host stations that might consider carrying them.
"If our program sucks so bad that you end up taking us off the air, then our band of militant crypto-socialists will make your lives a living hell."
The Mic, 92.1 -- The Voice of the Pee-Pole
I was just going to post this from the afternoon feeds...glad I looked!
Yep. These are the looney losers I live amongst. They really live in another dimension.
"In a democracyCommunist society, the media has a duty to us and that's to keep us informed," she said. "We want the message to go out to Clear Channel that the airwaves belong to the people and the people want progressive Communist radio."
This was mind numbing....
"As of Friday, I'll be on disability full time," she said. "I'll have 24/7 to work on this thing. I'm not going to give up."
Translation: As of Friday the "Man" will pay me for not working but I'm not so disabled that I can't work 24/7 to keep Communist radio on the air.
And she's only 28. What a freaking leech. Disgusting.
Wow, are they ever delusional. Don't the consumers have the right to hear sports radio if that is what they want?
and...
"As of Friday, I'll be on disability full time," she said. "I'll have 24/7 to work on this thing. I'm not going to give up."
So she's a professional whiner who now sucks at the teat of us taxpayers.
Methinks her qualification for disability needs to be looked at real hard.
>>"As of Friday, I'll be on disability full time," she said. "I'll have 24/7 to work on this thing."<<
Heh, heh. These people really need to hear themselves.
It is an odd subculture.
This is an example of everything I hate professionally. She is a cheat and is stealing from all of us!
>>...cement the future of Air America<<
Interesting choice of words.
The Valerie Walasek on this dimwit satanist website joined the army at age 24 for a brief period. Same lady?
Hopefully "cement the future of Air America" means it is under six feet of concrete with a headstone.
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