elected officials on the air ...

[ASchinella@aol.com]

Braude has been trying to get on the talk radio format for awhile. I have 
spoken to him numerous times about it over the years, although, this was 
before he got on "Talk of New England" or was elected in Cambridge. 

It is frowned upon as a major conflict of interest for an elected official to 
have their own show but I don't think that there are any laws against it 
right now. I know that it has been done in other markets though. Correct me 
if I am wrong Cape readers but didn't Ed Teague have a daily morning show 
when he was a state rep? As I heard it, he only left the show when he decided 
to run for the open Congressional seat vacated by Gerry Studds. 

When I was doing a weekly talk show/working as a board op at WUNR and then 
jumped into the Boston City Council race in 1997, management took me off the 
air because other candidates complained that I had an unfair advantage. I 
ended up not making the prelim by less than 300 votes. But of course, that is 
running for office, vs. already being there.  

It is one thing to for an elected official to be a guest or appear every 
month or so, like Menino or Cellucci have. It is quite another for them to 
appear daily. 

Braude and Eagan do make a pretty good pair on TV. But it's not like there 
are no other talk hosts out there to fill the slot. Tai just got canned at 
WRKO and IMHO he would be great to put in there with Eagan. 

In a message dated 1/3/00 1:51:32 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
Sptseditor@aol.com writes:

<< The Boston Radio Watch reported that WTKK changed its lineup effective 
Dec. 
 20. (I heard Braude and Egan on Christmas Eve, and just presumed he was 
doing 
 a guest spot.) Click here for more: 
 http://commons.somewhere.com/bostonrw/1999/Boston.Radio.Watch.12-18.html
 
 FYI, is there any conflilct of interest in having a politician (such as 
 Braude is, now that he's been elected to the Cambridge City Council) hosting 
 his own show every day? Granted the Gov and the Mayah are on shows 
 occasionally (is Menino still on with Moes?), but they don't have a regular 
 spot on a station's lineup. And the Menino/Moes show doesn't/didn't allow 
the 
 Mayor to go off on his own tangents -- it's pretty much a resident services 
 hotline, talking about the broken street lamp on Centre Street in JP. 
 Thoughts?
 
 -Sean >>