Book Watch: Road To Air America

Road To Air America by SHELDON DROBNY


      From one of the founders of Air America Radio, comes the story in his own words.

At last, from the man who built it, comes the first-hand account of the rocky road that led us to our nation’s first liberal talk-radio network.

After years of listening to monologues from right wing radio ideologues, Sheldon Drobny had enough. He decided the public airwaves needed balance, and that the way to get that balance was by starting his own full time, liberal radio network--what would become Air America Radio.

In Road to Air America, Drobny tells the story of the obstacles he and his wife Anita faced as they tried to make their concept for a progressive radio network a reality. Their journey took them through a world of politics, money, and media as they were helped by some of America's most powerful political figures. Determined to get his liberal radio network on the air, Drobny sold his concept to a team of radio executives only to have it fall back in his lap, nearly undone, five months later.

Today, after a high profile and bumpy launch, Air America is growing and going strong, on the air in 31 markets nationwide. Road to Air America is a story of determination and creativity, and it gives a first hand account of what it takes to get a progressive voice heard in a time when the conservative right dominates the radio airwaves. Drobny, a Chicago-based venture capitalist, philanthropist, and political activist, also has plenty to say about the destructive self-interest of today's corporate-owned media, and how it inspired his concept for a more balanced public discourse.