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The headline is from Franklin Avenue, the blog by Michael Schneider and Maria Villar that is having a good week. Their top item today is about this morning's L.A. Times story on "Gana la Verde" (Win the Green), a reality show on Spanish-language KCRA channel 62. Contestants are illegal immigrants who do difficult "Fear Factor"-like stunts, hoping to win the free services of lawyers who will help them apply for resident green cards. A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (the new INS) tells reporter Maria Elena Fernandez: "They are holding out false hope to people...It sounds very much like exploitation."
Franklin Avenue also hears that Radio Air America is doing well enough in New York and Portland that there's talk of an AM station here — KLAC 570 or KXTA 1150 — switching format to the liberal talk network. Air America has been off the air here since April. The blog also discusses the TV show "Westside" that ABC might pick up, set in the world of L.A. real estate agents.