for those late to the story, i'll post this from poynter:
From KIRK MONTGOMERY: Last week Lizz Winstead, the co-host of the Unfiltered morning radio show on Air America, was removed from the air. On Monday, she was absent without explanation, Tuesday was a repeat of an old show, Wednesday the remaining host, Rachel Maddow, opened wih this, the only Air America Radio official comment on the situation:
RACHEL MADDOW: Good morning and welcome to Unfilteredhere on Air America Radio. I'm Rachel Maddow. Were online at unfilteredradio.com. Thanks for joining us here this morning.We know that a lot of you have noticed that Lizz Winstead is not here in studio with me; I certainly have noticed this fact.
I know that conspiracy theories are out there and everybody has their tinfoil hats very finely tuned on this matter. but the bottom line is that, uh, we miss Lizz, we wish her all the best, and Unfiltered will be going on without Lizz - uh, with me, and with Chuck D, and of course with you.
So, uh, that's the bottom line, and thank you to everybody who has uh, gotten in touch with us on this matter. And that is uh, the where it stands right now and we appreciate everything that weve heard from everybody and you can certainly join the discussion online should you choose to at uh, airamericaradio.com, just click on Unfiltered.
I'm Rachel Maddow, this is Unfiltered here on Air America Radio, and uh, that is very sad news for me to deliver. I take no pleasure in delivering that. Umm, and uh, just so you know that Im giving you the straight dope - that is the straight dope.
I cannot find any discussion of this anywhere outside the blogospehere, but it seems quite unusual and intriguing, no?
for any 1 concerned about fair use, i've credited kirk and poynter and all but 6 lines above are public -- a transcription of what was heard on the air waves.
i thank kirk for having the guts to raise the question no 1 seems to want to discuss.
so the basic news is that lizz got dropped kicked off unfiltered and out of air america.
and no 1 wants to talk about it.
check the blog where you find idiots like "swing state girl" telling you that 'what if lizz is sick? do you have a right to know!' and arguing that 'as a progressive' it's really important that we respect the corporation's right not to speak.
a blogger bopped her on the head with that and pointed out that progressives stand for transperency with corporations but swing state gal just kept on swingin'.
that's what happens at the unfiltered board.
if you're not familiar with it, read through an old 1 when lizz was on 1st. then read through 1 after she is gone. you'll find names of people who have never blogged before.
i called my friend elaine to ask her about because she used to blog there. i said, 'hey elaine, what's up with this shit?' and i start giving her names and e-mail addresses (like the chuck from world wide pants) and she says, 'i don't know who those people are. i listened and watched the blog every day. i may not have had anything to share all the time but if i did i posted. i know the people. there's n69, for instance, that's some 1 who listened to the show. ryan and martha i know and i think i remember nat.' all three of those people were sticking up for lizz. the new people? the 1 attacking lizz?
'well since they're giving phoney e-mails without real accounts i think it's not real listeners or it is 1 over eager listener trying to act like he or she is many.'
what do you think of the new format?
'when rachel lied last tuesday and said lizz was sick, i listened even though it was boring. when wednesday was a repeat, i listened. on thursday when lizz wasn't on and rachel wasn't telling what was going on, i stopped listening. the show is disgusting now. rachel can't carry it. she never could lighten up and she can get pissy about minor things. she also has a tendency to lecture her audiences. i don't think randi rhodes does that but if randi did, randi's got some life to back that up. rachel's a young woman and when she's trying to tell us how it has to be, you just think "shut up you, nerd!" she's the person you fled in high school. so there's that. but there's also the fact that lizz took the humor and sparkle with her. and what we are left with is rachel trying to do a call in line show that sounds more and more like "yes, you're speaking to doctor fraiser crane." it's impossible to listen to.'
i read some of the statements from supposed long time listeners to her, comments they've posted in the last few days and she says 'those are not long term listeners who have been posting. i don't know if air america's hired people to post or if rachel's called susan and said "post for me, they're beating up on me!" but those are not long term listeners who've been posting.
what is connor saying?'
i read to her what connor's written.
'i'm ashamed of him. he called in and rachel or lizz says "it's a guy called conner from wherever"
and lizz says "oh, it's connor from the blog!" and rachel starts in with "you don't know that" in her self-important tone. turns out it was conner from the blog. and the fact that lizz knew his name and knew it was him should mean some thing to him. i can't believe he is not screaming his head off. he should be ashamed of himself.'
she asks me to read people who've been posting for lizz.
'ryan is making good points and he is correct that he has always like rachel best. that was always obvious from what he would post. i'd say the fact that some 1 who liked rachel better is outraged demonstrates how hideous this has been handled and how much the show sucks now.
what about martha?'
i read her what martha posted.
'good for her. if they have the energy to fight and cause a stink, they should. they are long term listeners. i don't have it in me anymore. they came on like "we're 1 big family." then lizz is gone and they can't even tell you. rachel will only address if the blog presses her. they should stay on her case. i think the show will be cancelled. rachel can't carry it alone. but there's a feeling that lizz was fired because she was the more political 1. she would get hot and angry when people tried to sell out on the choice issue. i wonder if they got complaints from dlc types? rachel's a coward. she should have walked the minute what ever happened to lizz happened. they wouldn't have sued her since air america doesn't want to talk about it. she's like suzette charles!'
who?
'exactly. vanessa williams was the first black miss america. then they strip her of her crown at the end of her reign. and suzette charles comes along to grab it for the last weeks. nobody remembers that back stabbing coward. but if she had said "no, i won't take it." she'd be remembered now as the woman who turned down the crown. rachel's a suzette charles."
what do you think happened?
'there was a thing in the new york daily news yesterday. lizz was either fired or forced to quit. that's obvious. so swing state girl and these other morons need to quit trying to say "it could be her health! you people need to shut up and accept that lizz is gone!" what morons. what cowards. if they really did listen to the show, how dare they not get angry about what happened to lizz. they're acting like lizz came on every 4th week and that was it. lizz was at least 1/2 the show. now she's gone and stupid morons want to say "move on!" and argue it's for the good of the "movement." there is no "movement" without accountability. that's what pissed so many people off about ohio. that people wouldn't fight and they kept trying to tell you to "move on."
it's nonsense. they were never listeners of the show. they've got to be ringers brought in to quiet the discussion on the blog. but it's not going away. i bet the audience is. no 1 wants to hear rachel go on and on in her faux npr manner. she's always wrong about stuff. i remember when some 1 called her on something and she got so damn pissy about it on air.'
that was when they confused harry reid with jack reed and had just done a salute to harry for what jack did. (jan. 27, 2005) instead of talking about jack reed rachel had to go on and on about how 'we always correct our mistakes.' no and you didn't then big brain. correcting your mistake would be doing a thing on jack reed. bragging about the fact that you're an idiot is noting that you got it wrong.
i read through the e-mails and this show is just boring for people now.
sherry: 'i just don't care to hear boring rachel. i always feel like i'm a parent going to a parent-teacher conference and i'm confronted with a first year teacher who can only relate to me as though i was 7 years old. i hate people who talk down to me.'
mel: 'why does she always act like she's doing us a favor by telling us about a news story that's at least a day old and sometimes longer? she acts like we're stupid and says things like "let me explain to you why this is important." i know why it's important, you stupid ass, i got that when i heard it on a real news broadcast. she's just hideous.'
laura: 'they fired the wrong 1. even when lizz pissed me off, at least i felt some thing. with rachel it's like i'm on heavy meds because she leaves me numb.'
trevor: 'i've never heard some 1 try harder to be terry gross and fail so miserably. what big brain maddow doesn't get is that terry gross can connect with listeners and has a great speaking voice. rachel can't connect."
loretta: 'let me be the 1st to say it, as a lesbian, i never would have thought a lesbian on the air could be so goddamn boring.'
bradley: 'they call it unfiltered but it's filtered because they tried to act like lizz never existed and only talk about it now when the blog goes crazy. rachel's coming off bitchy and rude to the listeners. they need to fire her ass.'
it is embarrassing to listen to. it's like the pat sajack show or worse - the chevy chase show.
rachel can not carry a news break, let alone a 3 hour show. when that pompous 'i'm so smart' hectoring tone starts up, listeners have had enough.
a friend swears that there has been a huge drop off in the amount of streaming for unfiltered.
it's like that thing c.i. of the common ills wrote on friday 'Breaking News Sally Struthers to co-host Unfiltered (This is PARODY, PEOPLE).' rachel needs lizz more than lizz needs rachel because lizz is the cher of the duo and rachel's the sonny.
and to answer a question i got asked over and over in the e-mails, i was at a soldier's play last night. i hadn't planned to go out but a friend called with 2 tickets and pointed out that we always say we'll go to plays and stuff but never do. it was a reading of play, not a performance and it was about racism and murder in the military during wwii. it was really great.
i had planned to stay home and blog but at the last minute, my friend ended up with tickets and needed some 1 to go with her.
