Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for CRS
- Cumulus Media, which owns and operates hundreds of talk radio stations throughout the country, told on-air personalities to stop suggesting 2020 election fraud or face termination, the Washington Post reported.
- Last Wednesday, when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, Cumulus executive vice president of content told employees that “we need to help induce national calm NOW.”
- Cumulus Media’s Mark Levin is among right-wing talk show hosts who have falsely suggested that the election was stolen.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Cumulus Media, the company behind hundreds of talk radio stations across the country, has issued a directive to its on-air personalities ordering them to stop suggesting the 2020 election was fraudulent or they could face termination, the Washington Post and Inside Music Media reported.
On Wednesday, when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, Brian Philips, Cumulus’ executive vice president of content, told employees in an internal memo that “we need to help induce national calm NOW,” according to Washington Post.
The memo reportedly continued to say that Cumulus and its program syndication arm, Westwood One, “will not tolerate any suggestion that the election has not ended. The election has been resolved, and there are no alternate acceptable ‘paths.” Any transgression from the policy would result in termination, the memo said.
A Cumulus representative did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment Monday.
The memo is part of sweeping measures companies across the country are taking in response to last week's riots at the Capitol. Right-wing social site Parler has gone dark after Amazon booted it from its web hosting services. Google and Apple banned the app from their stores. Twitter has permanently banned President Donald Trump's account from the site, citing potential for further violence. And Facebook has banned the president until the end of his term.
Mark Levin is among the right-wing talk show hosts on Cumulus Media who has touted unfounded fraudulent election claims.
On Tuesday's show, ahead of the certification of Biden's election, Levin said, "Do you think the framers of the Constitution and the framers of the 12th Amendment sat there and said, you know what, Congress has no choice but to count the electors, even if there's fraud."
On another episode following the deadly storming of the Capitol last week, Levin condemned the violence. He went on to say he and the other 74 million Trump voters are not part of a violent group, and he questioned who caused the violence, even though evidence showed Trump supporters carrying out the Capitol riots.
Cumulus Media has local programming through 416 owned-and-operated stations across 86 markets, along with 8,000 affiliated stations through Westwood One, according to its website. Popular right-wing host Rush Limbaugh is heard on many Cumulus-owned stations, but is syndicated by another company and is not subject to the memo, the Washington Post reported.