Milwaukee radio station says it agreed to edit interview with Joe Biden
MADISON — Civic Media, a Wisconsin-based progressive talk-radio network, said Thursday it had agreed to make two edits to an interview with President Joe Biden at the request of his campaign before the broadcast aired, a decision the station said fell short of "journalistic interview standards."
Still, the station said, it stands by its popular host Earl Ingram, who conducted the interview with Biden following the June 27 televised debate with rival Republican Donald Trump during which the president lost his train of thought and at times made nonsensical statements. Ingram's interview was recorded on July 3 and aired on July 4.
"On Monday, July 8th, it was reported to Civic Media management that immediately after the phone interview was recorded, the Biden campaign called and asked for two edits to the recording before it aired. Civic Media management immediately undertook an investigation and determined that the production team at the time viewed the edits as non-substantive and broadcast and published the interview with two short segments removed," the station said in a statement released on Thursday.
The station said it would make the full, unedited interview available online.
The two edits, according to the station, were:
At time 5:20, the removal of “...and in addition to that, I have more Blacks in my administration than any other president, all other presidents combined, and in major positions, cabinet positions.”
At time 14:15, in reference to Donald Trump’s call for the death penalty for the Central Park Five, the removal of “I don’t know if they even call for their hanging or not, but he–but they said [...] convicted of murder.”
"With a high-profile interview comes a listener expectation that journalistic interview standards will be applied, even for non-news programming. We did not meet those expectations. Civic Media disagrees with the team’s judgments in the moment, both with respect to the handling of the interview questions and the decision to edit the interview audio," the statement read.
According to the statement, Civic Media has clarified its policies "particularly for commentators and other non-news personnel."
"Civic Media unequivocally stands by Earl Ingram and his team," the statement read. "Earl is an invaluable voice for Milwaukee and Wisconsin, and remains a crucial member of the Civic Media organization. The decision to make the requested edits to the interview was made in good faith. While we disagree with the decision, we stand by our team. This has been a learning experience and we will do better moving forward."
Ingram, a longtime Biden supporter, told ABC News last weekend, "Yes, I was given some questions for Biden." Ingram has not responded to questions from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
A source familiar with the Biden campaign booking operation told the Journal Sentinel last weekend the campaign will no longer offer suggested questions.
"While interview hosts have always been free to ask whatever questions they please, moving forward we will refrain from offering suggested questions," the source said.
Andrea Lawful-Sanders of WURD in Philadelphia, the second host to interview Biden following the debate, said she did not feel pressured to ask any specific questions. WURD Radio announced Sunday it has “mutually agreed to part ways” with Lawful-Sanders.
The interviews were scheduled in an effort to reassure voters of the president's abilities. But the revelation that both hosts were given questions ahead of time has raised doubts about the confidence the president has in navigating unscripted conversations.
Ingram, who did not mention the pre-written questions during an earlier interview with the Journal Sentinel, told ABC News he was given five questions and asked four of them.
"I didn't get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask," he told ABC News last weekend.
Lauren Hitt, spokeswoman for Biden, said it's not uncommon for interview subjects "to share topics they would prefer."
"These questions were relevant to the news of the day — the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he'd delivered for Black Americans," Hitt said. "We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners."
"In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle (Friday) as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate," she added.
The campaign also noted host Geno Jones, who interviewed Biden in June, and actor and comedian D.L. Hughley, who interviewed Biden in May, said they were not given questions in advance of conversations with the president.
Ingram told ABC News he didn't have concerns with the practice.
"To think that I was gonna get an opportunity to ask any question to the President of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect," he said. "Certainly the fact that they gave me this opportunity ... meant a lot to me."
In the pre-recorded interview with Ingram that aired Thursday, Biden said he "had a bad night" during the debate.
"And the fact of the matter is that I screwed up. I made a mistake," he told Ingram.
Biden, during the 18-minute interview that aired on WAUK-AM, said he was "proud to be running for reelection as a president that has made his promises — and I've kept them."
The 81-year-old president visited Madison last Friday, defiantly declaring he would stay in the race and pledging to defeat Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He closed his rally with Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" just before taping a primetime interview with ABC that was organized to help overturn public fears of a lagging mental acuity.
Ahead of the rally, a group of local reporters were assembled to accompany the president's motorcade from the Dane County Regional Airport to the rally event and elsewhere. But the campaign scuttled the plan while reporters were waiting at the airport without explanation. A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter was unable to cover Friday's rally because of the situation.
Trump recently canceled an interview with a news outlet after learning what questions the reporter planned to ask. He also previously agreed to an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel during which he did not receive topics or questions ahead of time.
Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com. Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee radio station says it agreed to edit interview with Biden
