2 top Air America execs leave choppy network By John Cook Tribune staff reporter
In the latest development in what has become a chaotic inaugural month, Air America Radio is losing two of its top executives, including the network's co-founder.
Mark Walsh, the former AOL executive and Democratic National Committee operative who announced the network's launch to much fanfare five months ago, said Monday that he has stepped down as chief executive officer.
Separately, the network confirmed that Dave Logan, Air America's vice president for operations and programming, has been replaced.
The departures come on the heels of a whirlwind month in which Air America, billed as a left-wing alternative to Rush Limbaugh and the other conservatives who dominate talk radio, launched in five markets, expanded to more than a dozen and got kicked off the air in Chicago and Los Angeles in a billing dispute.
Air America successfully sued to get back on the air on WNTD-950 AM in Chicago but is seeking a new home. The network is expected to cease broadcasting over WNTD on Friday.
Chairman Evan Cohen characterized the management departures as the normal growing pains of a start-up.
"Businesses have an evolutionary process," he said. "If you're looking for `Shake-up at Air America Radio,' that's a creation in your own mind."
Walsh, who first emerged as the public face of Air America in November, when he and a group of investors purchased the fledgling liberal talk radio network, said the parting was amicable. He said he will maintain a limited relationship as a senior adviser.
Cohen credited Walsh with building up the network from scratch, but said that now that it is up and running, "Mark didn't want to grind it out day-to-day."
As for the other departure, Air America chief counsel David Goodfriend said Logan's responsibilities--programming and operations--have been reassigned.
Lizz Winstead, co-host of the midmorning show "Unfiltered," has taken over as head of programming. Goodfriend is acting chief operating officer.
As a former programmer for WLUP-FM 97.9 in Chicago, WNEW-FM in New York and KFOG-FM in San Francisco, Logan was one of a handful of experienced radio professionals affiliated with Air America.
The reasons for his departure are unclear, but one former Air America staffer said he had been fired. A network executive said Logan "wasn't a good fit."
Logan did not return a phone call seeking comment.
In Chicago, the network pulled its morning shows off the air Monday, replacing them with music and a periodic promotional message telling listeners how to hear the network over satellite radio and the Internet. Cohen said he wanted to inform listeners where to find Air America in case a new station isn't lined up by Friday.
Afternoon programming aired as scheduled.
With Walsh's departure, Cohen has become the liberal network's key spokesman and public advocate. He has an unlikely past for the role: He began his career as a Republican operative in his native Guam, serving as spokesman for Guam's Republican Party and as chief of staff for Sen. Tommy Tanaka, a pro-life Republican legislator.
Tanaka pleaded guilty to corruption charges last year.
"I am a progressive," said Cohen, adding that Guam's political climate is quite different from the mainland's. "Republicans in Guam are to the left of [late Democratic Senator] Paul Wellstone," he said.