OTTAWA – There is no inherent conflict of interest when politicians serve as regular radio hosts, the Ontario Regional Panel of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) ruled this week after considering two separate cases.
The first involved the Bob Bratina Morning Show broadcast on CHML-AM (AM900, Hamilton) and the second involved Jack Miller’s participation on the CIGL-FM (Mix 97, Belleville) morning show.
Both Bob Bratina and Jack Miller had worked as on-air radio personalities for many years, and were elected to city council in their respective cities within the preceding four years.
Two complainants contended that the politicians could use their positions in the media to promote their own political points of view.
The Ontario Panel referred to the CRTC’s rules on election campaigns, which only prohibit radio personalities who are candidates in an election from appearing on-air during the campaign period.
The panel noted that “no fundamental conflict exists between being a candidate and being on the airwaves, even when the announcement of one’s candidacy occurs, say, two months before an election is called. In other words, the issue appears to relate to the unfair advantage that may accrue to an on-air individual in the midst of an election contest.”
In both cases, the panel concluded the hosts had responded to issues that had already come before city council, and there was no question of either advocating for matters yet to be heard by the respective municipal councils.
The panel said neither Article 6 of the Radio Television News Directors Association of Canada’s Code of Ethics relating to conflicts of interest, nor Clause 6 of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics relating to fair and proper presentation of opinion were violated.
