NJ Radio: Governor Abruptly Cancels Appearance

Gov. Phil Murphy

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy abruptly canceled his call-in radio show Thursday night after a last-minute dispute with the stations, according to nj.com. 

Murphy was scheduled to appear on "Ask the Governor" on public radio stations WBGO in Newark, WNYC in New York City, and WHYY in Philadelphia at 8 p.m.

But the Democratic governor announced he was pulling out a little more than an hour before the broadcast was slated to begin.

He and the stations could not agree on the format of the hour-long program.

The stations released a statement saying Murphy withdrew after the stations "declined a request to remove a reporter from a panel that would be asking the governor questions during one segment."

The last time Murphy appeared on "Ask the Governor" on the stations, in March, an NJ Advance Media reporter asked Murphy questions in between calls from listeners.

This time, the station planned to bring on an education reporter from Politico New Jersey to ask Murphy questions on school funding.

But spokesmen for Murphy's office said the problem wasn't the reporter chosen -- they wanted the focus to be on callers instead. They said they told the stations this earlier in the week.