Mother Jones Takes to the Airwaves

For Release:
June 16, 2005
Contact:
Richard Reynolds, Mother Jones
415/321-1740
reynolds@motherjones.com
Jaime Hom, Air America Radio
212/871-8100

Mother Jones Radio, a new weekly show from Mother Jones magazine, will debut on Air America affiliates around the country at 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, June 19. Hosted by Angie Coiro, Mother Jones Radio will bring together reporters and experts with telling facts and insider insights, creating a potent mix charged with razor-sharp commentary and political humor from some of the best in the business. The announcement was made by Air America President of Programming Jon Sinton.

Angie Coiro is an award-winning journalist and radio host who has served as a news anchor at San Francisco’s NPR affiliate KQED-FM as well as several commercial stations in San Francisco, including KSFO, KFOG, and KSAN. As Friday host of KQED’s popular “Forum” show, which she left to take the new position, she won a Public Radio News Director, Inc. award for an interview with Salman Rushdie.

“This show is an amazing fit for me,” says Coiro. “I've admired Mother Jones since I was a kid. We must have been the only family in our conservative Indiana town to take Mother Jones from its debut issue on. I respect public broadcasting, but it's time to get more aggressive about getting the truth out.”

“The investigative stories in Mother Jones magazine have always made great broadcast material,” says Mother Jones Publisher Jay Harris. “Sixty Minutes and other shows have sourced dozens of stories from our pages. Now we’re doing it for ourselves, and are extremely pleased to be working with Air America Radio.”

“Mother Jones is a unique and powerful voice in the annals of American investigative journalism,” said Air America’s Sinton. “And adding their voice to Air America Radio is a very positive step forward for us.”

Mother Jones Radio will be produced by Katrina Rill, a veteran radio and TV producer whose most recent position was as a senior producer at Icicle Productions, a satellite radio venture.

The first installment will focus on global warming and the FDA. Angie Coiro interviews Chris Mooney, whose May/June Mother Jones article, “Some Like It Hot,” spotlights ExxonMobil’s extensive funding of global warming debunkers. Mooney discusses the response to his story and other recent developments. The FDA segment will feature FDA whistle-blower Dr. David Graham. Graham offers a shocking assessment of an FDA whose mandate, as his superiors have informed him, is to serve the drug industry rather than the public. Comedian Will Durst adds his hilarious take on the environment wars.

About Air America Radio

Air America Radio (AAR) is the national progressive entertainment talk radio network. AAR is broadcast in top U.S. markets, and since the network's launch on March 31, 2004, listeners have had access to the network's programming via live Internet streaming on www.airamericaradio.com, XM, and Sirius satellite radio networks. AAR is currently heard on 63 stations nationwide.

The network's on-air personalities include today's top political and popular satirists, commentators, and activists.