Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - 12:04pm
O'Donnell campaign apologizes to WDEL
Updated Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - 5:53pm
The Christine O'Donnell campaign is apologizing to WDEL after it demanded that video of an O'Donnell appearance on "The Rick Jensen Show" be destroyed and threatened a lawsuit if it wasn't.
O'Donnell, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, answered a variety of questions
from listeners as well as the host on Tuesday. The audio and video of interview segment
was broadcast live on WDEL 1150AM and streamed on WDEL.com, the station's website.
At the conclusion of the interview, a representative from the campaign who had been in
the broadcast studio with O'Donnell asked that the video be turned over to the campaign
and not released. He stated that the videotaping had not been approved by the O'Donnell
campaign.
O'Donnell also told show host Rick Jensen that she would sue the radio station if the
video was released.
WDEL routinely posts audio and video podcasts of interview segments on WDEL.com.
O'Donnell's appearance on WDEL in September had also been recorded and posted on the web.
O'Donnell's campaign manager, Matt Moran, called WDEL and demanded that the video be
immediately turned over to the campaign and destroyed. Moran threatened to "crush WDEL"
with a lawsuit if the station didn't comply.
An attorney representing the O'Donnell campaign contacted WDEL's law firm Hogan Lovells
and initially asked that the video not be released. WDEL's attorney asserted that the
interview and video were in compliance with all applicable laws, was clearly protected
free speech under the First Amendment, and that the campaign had no grounds to demand the
station withhold it from the public.
After seeing the video the attorney for the O'Donnell campaign contacted WDEL's counsel
again to apologize for charges made by their campaign manager. The attorney agreed that
there was no legal issue with the video and expressed regret for the incident.
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