Should All Radio Companies Mandate The Vaccine?

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(By Ed Ryan) Since our story about Cumulus mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for employees ran yesterday, we’ve heard from quite a few industry executives about the issue. Like the debate going on nationally, we heard varying, passionate and some angry opinions one way or the other. And they were all “off-the-record.”

The Washington Post, Disney, Twitter, Walgreens, Walmart and Google are just a few of national brands mandating all employees show proof of vaccination. As Covid cases rise, and hospitals begin to fill up again, this week Cumulus became the first radio company to join that list. There was no press release about the announcement.

Many radio stations across the country have been following the NAB’s lead in pushing the COVID-19 vaccine through PSA’s the trade organization provided them. Should they practice what they’re preaching? Radio salespeople interact with business owners every day, then return to the office. Radio stations employees are gathering with groups of people and family members on a daily basis as well, then going into the office. It appears this strain of COVID-19 is more contagious.

The challenge is that the issue has become so politicized. Those in favor of the vaccine say the unvaccinated are putting people’s lives in danger. Others don’t trust the government and don’t want the government telling them what to do. Tuskegee experiment anyone? President Joe Biden and Dr. Fauci are saying one thing, Senator Rand Paul says another, then gets banned from YouTube.

Here’s an example of the passion about this issue. From our Thursday story about Cumulus mandating the vaccine as of October 11th, a reader posted this: “Forcing a vaccine on people at the threat of losing their livelihood is immoral. If you’re vaccinated (as I am), then why worry about the unvaxxed? Even if you get it, your symptoms will almost certainly be mild. It’s the unvaxxed who can become very ill with this (unless you already have the antibodies). Mandating that they take the vaccine is a fascist move.

Bruce Demps commented that this is leadership leading.

Thursday on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, a woman called into the show and told the hosts her daughter was a nurse and was advising her not to get the vaccine. Who would you trust, the government or a practicing nurse?

Conservative host Phil Valentine has become a punching bag for the national press after getting sick with COVID and flipping on his vaccine views.

Add in breakthrough cases, reports of more kids getting sick, mask fights at school board meetings…you can lose your mind trying to figure how who to believe.

Three weeks ago I tested positive for the virus, and I hardly ever leave the house. It’s no joke. It was three solid days of sleep, orange juice and chicken soup to shake it off. The experts say now that I’ve had it, I should have the anti-bodies. Others say adding the vaccine to the anti-bodies provides another layer of protection. Who really knows?

The number one question people asked me was not whether I had a fever (I did) or lost my sense of smell (I did)…it was: Are you vaccinated? Were they asking because they wanted to know if I was a breakthrough case or to assume I was an anti-vaxxer?

Will other radio companies follow Cumulus? So far, they have not been as strict.
Townsquare is encouraging employees to get vaccinated and provides personal time off for employees to get vaccinated. No mandate. Audacy is requiring new employees get vaccinated, however, how many new employees is radio hiring these days?

Should radio companies mandate the vaccine?

Ed Ryan is Editor of Radio Ink Magazine and can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]

 

14 COMMENTS

  1. There have been adverse reactions to people receiving the vaccines, even death. If a company requires a vaccine to remain employed with that company, should the company be responsible for the employees medical expenses or compensation to the empoyee’s dependents if the vaccine is fatal?

  2. IHeart will do anything as long as it makes them money. NO CARE OF PEOPLES LIVES. JUST THE BOTTOM LINE. They don’t even have safe offices. No care at all for employees. Selfish and only cares for the green.

    • That’s called a business. They are also the most profitable radio company and the only one who jumped into digital when it mattered… Don’t like them? Go start your own company.

      • Profitable? Talk about making up your own facts…

        Please provide a link that shows the last time I Heart turned a profit in ANY quarter over the past 10 years.

  3. When you have a scrambled mess of information and misinformation and the experts are not perfectly accurate due to the nature of this pandemic, you have a public in trouble. Science and knowledge are not static sets of truths. We’re all learning as we go along. Yes, in a sense we are winging it. That said, if one uses logic in place of emotion, one will be less apt to be led astray. We have a world full of distrust. And while I do trust experts in and out of government, I understand why so many folks do not. Think of all the patriotic young men and women who served and died in Vietnam while our government hid the truth from us. From JFK through LBJ the deceit was as bad as we’re now seeing from Republicans who deny the outcome of the recent election.

    Knowledge is becoming more and more complex. It’s leaving the average person way behind to decipher what they need to know for their own well being. I put the blame squarely on our educational system. If you are not a science and technology geek you will likely be lost and incapable of making good decisions. You’ll tend to take the word of those you may trust, maybe your physician or the nurse in your family or your minister. But that’s really not sufficient as most of us who have had to deal with personal medical issues can attest.

  4. What will happen if you get in a car accident and need life-saving medical attention at the hospital?
    What happens to all the cancer patient who need treatment or emergency cesarean for pregnant women?

    This is more than about you.
    This is more than your right to vax or not to vax.
    When the hospitals are too crowded and there’s no room for your loved ones, what then?

  5. How about everyone just opening their eyes and mind? In the states with low vaccination rates, the virus is spreading rapidly. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Texas is out of ICU beds. Mississippi has requested a hospital ship because the hospitals have reached capacity. Sometimes, all you have to do to find an answer is pay attention.

  6. It is SOOO frustrating that we are being told what to do by bureaucrats who keep saying “follow the science” while they refuse to allow any discussion of any actual scientific evidence other than their personal statements! The only science that seems to matter is that “because I said so!” rules when the person is speaking as a government agent. Too bad because there really is science that can be observed on behalf of both sides! I am thinking a good radio slogan for these times would be “WE DON”T TELL YOU WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO!” A lot of people are really tired of hearing the continuously changing warnings and instructions!

  7. Nice piece! Perhaps for radio stations they should just mandate that all unvaxxed people need to wear a mask in the workplace. That protects others and doesn’t force anyone to be vaccinated. Bob

  8. I find it interesting that the CDC is not requiring their employees to be vaxxed.
    Any virologist will tell you that virus variants are more contagious they are also less severe.

    • Where did you get that information. Evidence is rapidly building that the Delta variant is more severe than the original, especially in children.

  9. Seems so many jurisdictions are putting out calls for obedient lemmings.
    “Refuse the vaccine and move to the edge of the cliff while overwhelming the medical system. Maintain your rights to die and to kill your family and friends in the process.”
    Then there is the “Jesus has got your back” – crowd.
    Too many chickens are coming home to roost – at the same time.
    I am reminded of signs at border crossings that read: Welcome to the U.S.A. Warning: Moron Breeding Ground. Enter at your own risk.”

    • Lawsuits against these mandates are working their way through the courts. Companies issuing those mandates are bound to be caught up in a lawsuit sooner or later. Seems like the large corporate media want to rack up more debt and legal fees on top of teetering close to bankruptcy with these mandates. Unlike the polio vaccine of the 1950’s, the entire COVID situation has been poisoned by politics, big money, “sheepie” corporations, corruption at all levels in government, origin in China and brought to the USA, and more. The most outstanding feature of the radio, TV, or computer is the OFF switch. Get your opinions and advice independently and not from large corporations barking at you.

  10. Thank you for writing this. My sister said to me one day, “You and I seem to be coming at this virus from opposite sides.” I said, “No. I just want solid truth, and so do you. We are coming at it with the exact same goal. Find the actual, real truth.”

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