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Cumulus stops Blair Gardner from airing an interview with Mayor Pete.

TheBigA said:
That is the key exemption. What is a bona fide news interview? Can the host of an entertainment program conduct a bona fide news interview? That would be core to any legal case on this issue, if on were to take it that far.
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The interpretation on this going back to the 80's when I had many cases of this when doing a news talk station in Puerto Rico is that a "news interview" is most closely associated with breaking news or spot news coverage, and not with a "think piece" in-depth sit-down interview.

Obviously, its not the 80's any more and the FCC is likely to have a different interpretation of what a "news interview" is but the concept remains to be tested in case law.
 
When was the last time a case was actually heard before the FCC and what would be the real punishment? While I have not heard the Garner interview, I cannot imagine his previous history of being an entertainer vs bona fide newsperson would cause an issue. My guess is Cumulus did not find the interview to be that interesting and did not want to listen to every candidate bitching and moaning about not being given a fair amount of time or being asked unfair queations. This old slippery slope is probably not where the government wants to be going right now.
 
kidrauhl said:
Thats fine with me. Mayor Pete is wasting his citys time as far as i am concerned and he doesnt give a damn about the city he is mayor of. He just trying to become the first gay candidate which is stupid it shouldnt matter how you associate but that is his main talking point. I try to stay away from politics on here but this thread kind of iniates that subject so please go easy on me admins thank you.
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If being gay "is his main talking point" then why did it never come up during the entire 21-minute interview?

Instead, one of the first topics discussed at length was his Christian faith -- something that a Country music audience would appreciate.
 
https://news.****************/artic...Refused-to-Let-Garner-Air-Buttigieg-Interview

Here is more apparently the interview is in Blair Garner's Soundcloud account though

Cumulus has created quite an uproar when it refused to let syndicated and National and Country Radio Hall of Fame air personality Blair Garner air a pre-recorded interview with 2020 Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg last week. According To CNN, the idea for it came from the Buttigieg campaign, and Garner welcomed the outreach. If you want to hear the interview, it's only available on Garner's personal SoundCloud page.

"Since Country music tends to lean in a conservative direction, I was surprised" to get the opportunity, Garner wrote afterward. "The only candidate who asked to be on my show. My employer decided I couldn't air it - but I did get permission to post it on my personal Soundcloud account," he said in a Twitter post.
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kevtronics said:
If being gay "is his main talking point" then why did it never come up during the entire 21-minute interview?

Instead, one of the first topics discussed at length was his Christian faith -- something that a Country music audience would appreciate.
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Yet neither subject would qualify as actual news coverage which would exempt the interview from the Equal Time rule requirements.
 
But ironically, if Cumulus had allowed the interview to be aired as planned, I doubt it would have garnered enough attention for the other presidential candidates to even notice. After all, Pete appeared in a very non-"bona fide news" interview on TMZ, and I haven't seen the 24 other candidates pounding on their door demanding to be given equal time. And Bernie Sanders appeared on Saturday Night Live during his 2016 campaign, and we didn't see Martin O'Malley demanding his own SNL sketch...
 
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