There’s been a trend recently in the news/talk radio world: hosts leaving their positions to either run for elected office or to assume a government position.
While it’s been more prevalent on the cable news side of the news media — with the Trump administration poaching several members of the Fox News crew — there have been several news/talk radio hosts who have made the jump.
Perhaps most famously, Dan Bongino exited his show with Westwood One to join the administration as Deputy Director of the FBI. But he wasn’t alone.
Dr. Sebastian Gorka left the Salem Radio Network to join the Trump administration. WRVA morning host John Reid left his post to run for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. New Jersey 101.5 morning host Bill Spadea also left his show to run for governor of the Garden State. Meanwhile, three hosts at 77 WABC in New York — Frank Morano, Curtis Sliwa, and Anthony Weiner — are either off the air or have been replaced entirely due to their runs for office in the city.
I’m sure there are others that I’m forgetting.
But to be truthful, I think that might be too many news/talk radio hosts aspiring to be politicians.
In a perfect world, wouldn’t news/talk radio hosts be so provocative and entertaining that they would have essentially disqualified themselves from office for being mildly interesting? That they’ve said things, taken stances on topics, and made enough enemies in the establishment that joining those people in Washington or any given statehouse in the country would be almost an impossibility?
Politics are inherently boring. We can make them interesting from time to time, but so often it’s the people who are the interesting aspects of covering politics — not the subject matter — that is interesting. So I can understand the allure of wanting to shift to public office.
One of the largest criticisms I’ve had of the news/talk radio space is that so many hosts spend so much time talking about intricate political topics in their markets with an “If I was the (governor, senator, representative, etc…), here’s what I would do.” Well, anyone can serve as a backseat driver in local or national politics. Literally anyone. But it takes some gumption and ambition to run for office, and I always felt like too many hosts were — frankly — to chicken to put themselves out there like that.
So, I’m glad to see that I’m wrong and that many aren’t afraid to step out on that limb, success be damned.
On the flip side, though, I don’t know that I want to listen to a host who is afraid to truly speak their mind because they might have political aspirations in the back of that same mind, and don’t want to make enemies with either their preferred political party, potential future colleagues, or risk not getting the endorsement of Donald Trump because they had the audacity to have an opinion that didn’t fall in line with what everyone else thought they should have believed.
Furthermore, I don’t know that I want to see the government filled with news/talk radio hosts who are more interested in being in front of the camera, seeing press written about them, and working on getting as much attention and notoriety for themselves instead of doing the things they were elected to do: running the city, county, state, or federal government. We need significantly less of that in government today, not more.
I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a news/talk radio host — and you should take this as a compliment, not an insult — and thought “My god. I someday hope this person becomes an important legislator!” Because I don’t want to listen to potential legislators! I want to listen to entertainers!
While I don’t want to see news/talk radio be a pipeline for government positions, I do think the opposite — the politics to radio pipeline — is a much better way for the industry to operate. Many have some ethical concerns with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) hosting a podcast with iHeartMedia — especially with the way he’s paid for that program — but I think it should be embraced more than it is shunned.
It’s a way for a politician to speak directly and candidly about a variety of topics. And having that access to the unadulterated thoughts of a high-ranking member of the American government, to me, is a good thing.
But it still needs to be entertaining. And that might be where my issue with the news/talk radio to public office pipeline is the strongest. Radio hosts who are afraid to truly speak their minds are only looking out for themselves, and that’s an undeniably bad thing when you’re in a position that you need to produce for a program, a station, a cluster, a company, and even further, an industry.
The industry is hurt if those inside studios have to walk on eggshells because their stance might affect their political future. But I’d argue there shouldn’t even be a political future on the radar. Be entertaining. Be thought-provoking. Call out what needs to be called out and praise what needs to be praised. But if I’m asking the question “Should news/talk radio be a pipeline to a political career?”, my answer is a resounding no. Absolutely not.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
