Free Republic

When Eli Lake's story regarding J Street's donor list was published the role of George Soros created controversy. Soros has a long history of funding anti-Israel activism so his role at J Street was deliberately hidden by the group for years. Now more revelations have started to leak. I did a bit of further research (hat tip: Cheryl Lewin) about another donor and supporter of J Street: Gail Furman. She sits on its advisory council and is a donor listed on its Form 990  . She is also a member of the board of the Soros-created Democracy Alliance - a...

The loss of star personality Randi Rhodes and the health of one of its founders was too much for Nova M Radio to bear. Started just 2 years ago as an alternative to Air America, Nova M was reportedly losing $100,000 a month (per the Wall Street Journal), and the loss of Rhodes meant the loss of a large majority of their affiliates. In addition, Nova M co-founder Sheldon Drobny has been hospitalized with a heart condition, something his wife, Anita Drobny claimed was due to the stress of running the company. As for the dispute that led to Rhodes'...

Just in case yesterday’s conversation with Megyn Kelly (or his long friendship with Hugh Hewitt) didn’t teach Bill Press about the free market in radio, today’s news about libtalker network Nova-M should. Brian Maloney reports that the syndication network has collapsed, thanks to a lack of revenue: Libtalk network Nova M Radio has been shut down, according to the attorney for Randi Rhodes, Robert V Gaulin of New York. … Moments ago, Gaulin sent this letter to your Radio Equalizer: Randi Rhodes’ on-air home for less than a year will shut its doors. In an email message of February 17th...

Libtalk network Nova M Radio has been shut down, according to the attorney for Randi Rhodes, Robert V Gaulin of New York. … Moments ago, Gaulin sent this letter to your Radio Equalizer: Randi Rhodes’ on-air home for less than a year will shut its doors. In an email message of February 17th from counsel for Nova M Radio, Inc. to Randi’s entertainment attorney, Robert V. Gaulin, the company is said to have been advised to file for bankruptcy protection next week. All payroll deposits were reversed on Tuesday, leaving Nova’s employees unpaid for the past two weeks. On Sunday,...

Anita and Sheldon Drobny, two of the founders of Air America Radio, are taking the next step to ensure that liberal programming stays on the air: obtaining radio stations. Anita and Sheldon Drobny want to spread liberal talk radio by buying stations across the country. The couple has announced plans to begin buying or leasing radio stations across the United States through their new company, Nova M Radio. The Drobnys, who own a venture capital firm called the Paradigm Group based near Chicago, started the new company with Dr. Michael Newcomb, and a handful of investors. The name Nova M...

Who is Air America? Part III and where are they?Part I, Part II [gpapa's comments in brackets] From UrbanRadioLive.com UrbanTalk Atlanta Radio Venture to Back Liberal Hosts By Atlanta Journal and Constitution Feb 21, 2003, 06:00 An Atlantan has been hired to create liberal talk radio programs for syndication, but analysts and others see a challenge in attempting to rival a conservative radio icon such as Rush Limbaugh. Jon Sinton, a 48-year-old former radio consultant from Cobb County, is chief executive officer of a venture called AnShell Media, a $10 million start-up funded by investors led by Chicago venture...

Air America, the much-hyped liberal media ven ture that was supposed to revolutionize talk radio, is "solvent and apparently stable": So claim the gullible cheerleaders at The New York Times, who made that unsubstantiated assertion in a recent glowing profile of Air America host Janeane Garofalo. But behind the fawning headlines and celebrity kiss-ups is a tale of astounding financial and legal chaos. The city Department of Investigation and state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer continue to conduct separate probes into a dubious loan scheme involving Air America and the Bronx-based Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club. An estimated $875,000 of...

Who is Air America? Part II And where are they? See Who is Air America? Part I here [gpapa's comments in brackets] Nobody was duped: Sorensen denies allegations surrounding Air America by Ken Wetmore, KUAM News, Thursday, June 24, 2004 [The Guam Connection]Heading the project [Air America] were two men with strong ties to Guam. Rex Sorensen owns Sorensen Pacific Broadcasting, which operates five radio stations on Guam and Saipan (Sorensen says his Guam broadcasting company is in no way connected to Air America). The other man is Evan Cohen who was born on Guam and operated several businesses on...

Who is Air America? Vanity A summary of some of the key persons involved in the Air-A scandals, and their friends, August 19, 2005 Some of you out there probably have located most of this information before. The following is based on a series of emails I sent to Michelle Malkin and Radio Equalizer over the last few days. I am sure others have sent them similar items, as well as posting them at FR. [My comments are in brackets; some key names, dates, places, organizations and links are highlighted in bold letters] [Michelle Malkin and Radio Equalizer (Brian Maloney)...

.. The Drobnys, on their joint federal income tax return for 1979 (prepared by Sheldon Drobny), claimed certain losses as deductions in connection with their investment in the aloe vera research and development programs. In 1983, the Illinois District Director of the IRS (based in Chicago, Illinois) disallowed these deductions, after determining through investigation that they were part of an impermissible "tax shelter" scheme..

<p>On March 30, the night before Air America went on the air, the liberal radio network threw itself a $70,000 party at Manhattan's hip Maritime Hotel. More than 1,000 guests, including Yoko Ono and Tim Robbins, drank red, white and blue vodka cocktails as they toasted the network's bid to challenge the dominance of conservative talk radio.</p>

Drobny: Liberal net will launch, and big, in January Chicago millionaire Sheldon Drobny has maintained a low media profile as he prepares to launch a liberal talk network, so we were surprised to hear him pop up on the air yesterday as a guest on a local talk show in Florida. Although most of the conversation with host Bud Beck on WWPR-AM Bradenton, FL focused on politics, where the two liberals agreed on just about everything, Drobny spoke a bit about the new network that AnShell Media, the company that he and his wife Anita own, is preparing to debut...