Pete Buttigieg's interview on country radio was silenced
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New York (CNN Business)Blair Garner, host of a nationally syndicated radio program, taped an interview with 2020 Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg in Nashville last week.
The idea for it came from the Buttigieg campaign, and Garner was pleased at the outreach.
"Since Country music tends to lean in a conservative direction, I was surprised" to get the opportunity, Garner wrote afterward. "But more than surprised, I was EXTREMELY flattered. One of the few truly viable candidates in the race raised his hand and asked for a place at the table. I was willing to give him that seat. I would have also given a seat to any other viable candidate, from both sides."
But if you want to hear the interview, you'll have to look up Garner's personal SoundCloud page. Garner said he was told by someone at his employer, Cumulus Media, that he "couldn't air it" on broadcast.
Blair Garner
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@blairgarner
My interview with @PeteButtigieg. The only candidate who asked to be on my show. My employer decided I couldn't air it - but I did get permission to post it on my personal Soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/user-755551091/blair-garner-mayor-pete … @Lis_Smith
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Now this decision by Cumulus is generating a lot of attention -- via stories on HuffPost, The Washington Post and other news outlets. Critics are accusing the company of censorship.
"This is an incredible act of cowardice for a company whose slogan is 'Where Every Voice Matters,'" said Kurt Bardella, the publisher of the daily country music email newsletter "The Morning Hangover." He was in the room for Garner's interview with Buttigieg.
In an op-ed for USA Today, Bardella wrote, "I hope the executives at Cumulus take the time to actually listen to the whole conversation, reconsider their directive, and give Blair the go-ahead to air his talk with Mayor Pete."
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/22/media/pete-buttigieg-interview-blair-garner/index.html
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