WURD CEO accuses Biden campaign of pulling a ‘fast one’ on the radio station, says Lawful-Sanders wasn’t fired

Sara M. Lomax, president and CEO of Philadelphia’s WURD radio, took to the talk station’s airwaves Monday to clear the air about a high-profile ethical misstep by a now-former host, Andrea Lawful-Sanders.

Lomax also accused President Joe Biden’s campaign of pulling “a fast one and said the Democratic Party needs to get its act together to prevent another Donald Trump presidency.

Lomax’s on-air appearance came after Lawful-Sanders said on CNN that the Biden campaign sent her eight predetermined questions ahead of the audio interview and that she chose four of them to ask, essentially creating a script for Biden to follow and violating journalistic standards.

The comment made waves online as many have raised questions about Biden’s ability to perform his public duties as president in light of his lackluster performance in his debate with Trump on June 27.

The Biden campaign defended the practice, with spokesperson Lauren Hitt saying that sharing “topics they would prefer” is a common practice and that the campaign doesn’t condition interviews on the questions. But the campaign will no longer offer “suggested questions” after the blowback, according to a source familiar with Biden’s operations.

In an Instagram post on Monday, Lawful-Sanders said that she worked with Biden’s team about topics to discuss before the interview and that they “respected my notes, question edits, and license to change, add or ignore their suggested questions.”

» READ MORE: Andrea Lawful-Sanders leaves WURD after Biden campaign provides questions for Joe Biden interview

Lomax announced Sunday that Lawful-Sanders and the Philadelphia station, which focuses on issues important to the Black community, had parted ways. Lomax spoke further about the incident on WURD on Monday morning. Here’s what to know.

In a post online on Sunday, Lomax said “Ms. Lawful-Sanders and WURD Radio have mutually agreed to part ways, effective immediately.”

“Andrea resigned,” Lomax said on air Monday, clearing up misinterpretations of the statement. “On her own volition. She was not fired. She chose to resign, and we accepted her resignation.”

Lawful-Sanders also said on Instagram that she resigned over the weekend, and, on Monday, she said she didn’t have a background in journalism prior to the role.

“I am not a journalist,” she said. “I was once a radio show host. Every single day, though, I am a Black woman in America. And because of that and that alone, I will rise to every occasion to serve and advocate for my community with integrity, transparency, and a pure heart.”

Lomax also praised Lawful-Sanders’ work at the station since becoming a host in 2019.

“She really put her heart and soul into her work at WURD and impacted thousands of lives on a daily basis, and I want to take this opportunity to just acknowledge and recognize her contributions to the station,” the CEO said.

According to Lomax, all interviews involving the White House are required to go through the station’s general manager, Ashanti Martin. But Biden’s team “intentionally bypassed” and “leapfrogged” over the station’s system by going directly to the host, Lomax said.

“The time turnaround is so frantic in those situations,” Lomax said. “I think there was just a lot of chaos happening around the interview, and so it’s really important to just understand that the Biden White House and the campaign, they tried to do a fast one basically and eliminate and overstep what the established understood protocol would be, and that’s what really I think just created a lot of turmoil.”

Lomax and Martin did not know about the interview until White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced it publicly, Lomax said.

The station already developed a growing relationship with the Biden administration since it aired a daylong live broadcast featuring members of the administration in February, Lomax said.

“It doesn’t get any bigger than an interview with the president of the United States,” Lomax said. “It’s really too much for any one person to try and, like, navigate all of that complexity. ... This is an opportunity for WURD to change some of its approaches and to tighten up some of our policies and procedures.”

Lomax said the Biden campaign saw the need to focus on Black media after the “disastrous debate,” since Black Philadelphians are crucial for a Biden win. But she criticized the Democratic Party for being “absolutely skittish and just in disarray” as they try to mount a credible campaign.

“My position is, I don’t care whether it’s Biden or some upstart, but they’ve got to get on the same page,” Lomax said. " … the way they’re operating is absolutely frenetic. It’s absolutely chaos, and that is an absolute disaster for Black America and Black Philadelphia.”

She said another Trump presidency is “very, very possible if the Democrats don’t get their stuff together” and warned of further harm to affirmative action, DEI efforts, and reproductive rights.

» READ MORE: Why Donald Trump chose North Philadelphia for his first-ever rally in the city

Asking scripted questions isn’t generally acceptable because it removes the media’s function of holding those in power accountable and fractures trust with audiences.

While it is standard for campaigns or organizations to suggest talking points or talk to reporters about what may be asked, reporters should not feel the need to use those questions.

While Lomax accused the campaign of messing with their workflow, she didn’t accuse it of conditioning the interview on using those questions, saying on air: “I don’t know if that was a condition or whatever, I’m sure it wasn’t.”

Solomon Jones, the Monday morning host, who regularly writes opinion columns for The Inquirer, said that while the campaign can suggest topics, “from a journalistic standpoint you don’t go according to a script provided by a public official.

“And I think that it’s important for our listeners to know that that is not what we do,” he said. “Because that’s been an accusation. ... We don’t do that.”