Sara M. Lomax, President and CEO of WURD Radio, announced on Sunday that the station had terminated host Andrea Lawful-Sanders after discovering she used questions provided by the White House during President Joe Biden’s first post-debate interview on July 3.
Lomax stated that Lawful-Sanders’s actions contradicted the station’s standards and jeopardized the trust of its listeners. “The interview featured predetermined questions from the White House, which goes against our commitment to maintaining independent journalism accountable to our audience,” Lomax said in a statement. She added that the radio host and WURD Radio had agreed to part ways immediately.
Following his contentious debate performance against Donald Trump last month, Biden’s public confidence had waned. His campaign worked to refurbish his image as a capable candidate for the upcoming November elections.
Lawful-Sanders admitted in a CNN interview on Saturday that she had approved four out of eight questions provided to her for review. While Lomax attributed the questions to the White House, Biden’s campaign spokesperson, Lauren Hitt, clarified that it was the campaign team that had sent them, not the White House.
Hitt defended the practice, stating, “It’s not uncommon for interviewees to indicate preferred topics before interviews.” She emphasized that Lawful-Sanders was free to ask any questions she deemed important, and the topics covered, including Biden’s debate performance and his plans for African Americans, were relevant to current events.
The incident sparked debate over journalistic independence and the practices surrounding interview preparation in media outlets.
