In America, radio stations are banned from refusing or editing political advertising campaigns.
This has led to newstalk station KMBZ in Kansas City being forced to run ads for Missouri Senate write-in candidate Glenn Miller, which the Kansas City Star reports are urging the white population to “take their country back” and disparages Jews and non-white communities.
Speaking to the newspaper, program director Neil Larrimore said “The company is required by federal law to run these spots and to do so without any edits. Our hands are tied.”
Although the radio station cannot criticize or support the content of commercials, KMBZ is able to run a disclaimer before the adverts.
Writing on BroadcastLawBlog.com, attorney David Oxenford notes that in the case of political ads, candidates can be sued for libel or defamation, but the radio station itself is immune from prosecution.