RI Governor To Issue Talk Show Ban

Calls radio 'profit-driven'

Steven Portnoy at abcnews.com reports:

State officials in Rhode Island will soon be ordered to stay off the airways, provided the interviewer happens to be a talk show host.

A spokesman for Gov. Lincoln Chafee tells the Providence Journal that talk radio is essentially “ratings-driven, for-profit programming,” and “we don’t think it is appropriate to use taxpayer resources” to have state employees use work time to “support for-profit, ratings-driven programming.”

Chafee intends to stay off the air, too, reversing something of a trend.  His predecessor, Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri, was a frequent talk radio guest, as are many current and former governors and big city mayors across the country.

A former mayor of Providence, who happens to be one of the biggest talk show hosts in the state, sharply disagrees with the governor’s stance.

“Chafee is – I don’t want to be critical – but he’s not exactly Demosthenes,” says Buddy Cianci, who hosts the afternoon drive program on WPRO-AM.  “The fact is that he’s got some issues that he maybe doesn’t have the answer to [on the air].”

Read more here.

Tom's Take: I suppose the business model for newspapers is NOT to make a profit.  What is the newshole vs. ads percentage balance?

Also read here:

Wonder why Chafee so dislikes talk radio? (WRNI, Rhode Island Public Radio)

Lincoln Chafee radio ban may be missing the point (Examiner.com)