Milwaukee radio station says it agreed to edit interview with Joe Biden

Civic Media, an progressive Wisconsin talk-radio station, announced Thursday that it had agreed to two edits of an interview with Joe Biden, at the request from his campaign, before the broadcast was aired. The station criticized the decision as not meeting “journalistic interviewing standards.”

The station still said it stood by Earl Ingram who conducted the interview after the June 27 televised discussion with Republican Donald Trump, during which the President lost his train and made at times nonsensical comments. Ingram’s July 3 interview aired July 4 after it was recorded.

Civic Media management was informed on Monday, 8th July, that the Biden campaign had called immediately after the interview was recorded and requested two edits before the recording was broadcast. Civic Media management conducted an immediate investigation. They determined that at the time, the production team viewed the edits to be non-substantive. The station broadcast and published the interview without the two segments.

The station announced that it would post the entire, uncut interview online.

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According to the station:

“At time 5:20 the removal of “…and on top of that, I have had more Blacks than any president combined in my administration, in major positions and cabinet positions.”

The removal of the phrase “I don’t know if the Central Park Five even called for their hanging, but they said […] were convicted of murder” at time 14:15 in reference to Donald Trump’s call for death penalty.

“When a high profile interview is broadcast, listeners expect that the same journalistic standards of interviewing will be used for all programming. We didn’t meet these expectations. Civic Media does not agree with the team’s decisions at the time, either in regards to the way the questions were handled or the decision to edit audio of the interview,” read the statement.

Civic Media clarified their policies, “especially for commentators and non-news personnel,” according to the statement.

The statement stated that “Civic Media stands unambiguously by Earl Ingram, his team and their work.” “Earl has been a valuable voice for Milwaukee and Wisconsin and is a vital member of Civic Media. The decision was made with good faith to edit the interview. We disagree with the decision but we still stand by our team. “This has been an experience that we have learned from and will improve on going forward.”

Ingram, who has been a supporter of Biden for many years, said to ABC News at the weekend: “Yes, some questions were given to me by Biden.” Ingram did not respond when asked questions from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The popular host has no background in journalism.

When asked by the Journal Sentinel about the reason for the request and if such requests were standard for the campaign, a Biden spokesman said: “Hosts are always free to ask questions and air segments that they feel will best inform listeners.”

The Journal Sentinel reported last weekend that a source familiar with Biden’s booking operation said the campaign would no longer provide suggested questions.

Source: “In the past, interview hosts were free to ask any questions they wanted. Moving forward, we will no longer offer suggested questions.”

Andrea Lawful Sanders of WURD, Philadelphia, who was the second interviewer to speak with Biden after the debate said that she didn’t feel any pressure to ask specific questions. WURD announced on Sunday that it had “mutually agreed” to part ways with Lawful Sanders.

The interviews were planned to reassure voters about the president’s capabilities. The revelation that the questions were sent to both hosts in advance has cast doubt on the president’s ability to conduct unscripted interviews.

Ingram told ABC News that he had been given five questions, but only asked four.

He told ABC News that he didn’t have the chance to ask all of his questions.

Lauren Hitt said that it is not unusual for interviewees to “share topics they prefer” during an interview.

Hitt explained that the questions asked were in line with the current news. “The president was questioned about his performance at the debate as well as the results he had achieved for Black Americans,” he said. “We don’t condition interviews on accepting these questions. Hosts are free to ask whatever questions they feel will inform their listeners,” Hitt said.

“In addition, the President participated in a press conference (Friday), as well as an ABC interview. Since the debate, Americans have seen him in a more natural light.

D.L. Hughley, the host who interviewed Biden in May, and actor Geno Jones were also mentioned by the campaign. Hughley, the host who interviewed Biden in may, stated that they did not receive questions prior to their conversations with President.

Ingram told ABC News that he had no concerns about the practice.

He said: “To think I would get the chance to ask any questions to the President, I believe, is more than anyone should expect.” “Certainly, the fact that they offered me this opportunity… meant a great deal to me.”

In the prerecorded Ingram interview that aired on Thursday, Biden admitted he had “a bad night” at the debate.

“I screwed it up, that’s the truth.” “I made a mistake,” Ingram told him.

Biden said during an 18-minute interview on WAUK AM that he is “proud of being running for re-election as a President who has kept his promises.”

Last Friday, the 81-year old president made a visit to Madison. He declared he was staying in the race, and pledged to defeat Republican candidate Donald Trump. The 81-year-old president closed his rally by playing Tom Petty’s song “I Won’t Back Down”, just before taping an ABC primetime interview that was designed to dispel public fears about a declining mental acuity.

Before the rally, local reporters had been assembled to follow the motorcade of the president from the Dane County Regional Airport and other locations to the rally. The campaign changed the plans while the reporters were at the airport, without any explanation. Due to the circumstances, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel journalist was unable cover Friday’s rally.

Trump recently cancelled an interview after learning the questions that the reporter was planning to ask. He previously canceled an interview with a news outlet after learning the questions that would be asked by the reporter.