October 22, 2006 at 11:40:44

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By Sheila Samples (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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Whatever the reason, it was brutal -- an unexpected, crippling blow to the midsection, and tens of thousands of late-night AAR listeners reeled from the shock of having Malloy ripped unceremoniously from their midst. And it was just as sudden for Malloy, who was fired at mid-day on Aug. 30 while he and his producer-wife Kathy Bay were en route to the WGST studio to substitute for the vacationing Randi Rhodes. Malloy said Sinton, himself in shock, called and said, "They terminated you -- effective immediately."

"I couldn't believe it," Malloy said. "I was driving on the freeway and I pulled over to the side of the road so I could concentrate on what Sinton was saying. But all he had been told," Malloy continued, "was that it was a budget cut."

According to Malloy, who was the lowest paid on-air talent, that's just so much "batsqueeze." He says his AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) representative, Peter Fuster, and AAR attorney Bill Schapp had worked out a settlement agreement that had resulted in a two-year contract approved by Air America CEO Jim Wiggett.

"It was a relief to me," Malloy said. "I had been working for the past 10 months without a contract. They had totally underpaid me -- far less per year than the agreed amount -- and had violated their agreement with AFTRA. I was just glad it was over, and we could get on with the business at hand." However, Malloy said that, upon returning from vacation, CFO Bob Ennis, formerly with Rupert Murdoch's right-wing NewsCorp, allegedly tossed the contract aside and said, in effect, "No deal. We're firing him."

That proved to be a futile gesture because Malloy says, "I'm like a cork -- I just keep popping up." His past shows are archived at White Rose Society, and immediately upon his firing, Head On Radio began streaming his shows from 10 p.m.- 1 a.m. nightly, with material going back as far his early I.E. America radio days. Also, an in-depth interview with Malloy is available on the Protean Media site.

Malloy is quick to point out that Air America's current problems do not stem from its sterling, progressive on-air talent such as Randi Rhodes, Sam Seder, Rachel Maddow, et al, but rather with mismanagement in the head shed where it sometimes appears that nobody is in charge. According to an Associated Press release, Air America has been plagued with financial woes since it launched two years ago. After months of denial and reports that problems had been solved, the station filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 13. The list of its debtors runs for a whopping 26 pages.

Or perhaps the problem is that everybody's in charge, which would explain why one guy would give Malloy a new two-year contract on Aug. 11, and another would pull the plug on him a scant two weeks later with no advance warning. That old Army adage, "don't s**t in your mess gear," is elementary, and I suspect AAR honchos will be mighty hungry by the time they realize that people flocked to their electronic table seeking only the Truth. With Mike Malloy, that's what they got.

And, beginning on Oct. 30, that's what they'll get at Nova M Radio. Night after night. A veritible feast.

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Sheila Samples is an Oklahoma writer and a former civilian US Army Public Information Officer. She is a regular contributor for a variety of Internet sites.

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
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