WURD backs Kamala Harris in initial political support

WURD – the Black-owned radio station based in Philadelphia – has officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, four days after the general election.

“WURD Radio is a marketplace for ideas, conversation and public dialogue. That said, we are also acutely aware of the extraordinary stakes of the current presidential election – and the clear and present threat that Donald Trump represents to our community,” the station said. a statement on its website Friday. “For this reason, we have decided to take the unprecedented step of supporting Kamala Harris.”

Since its founding by physician Walter P. Lomax in 2003, WURD had not endorsed a political candidate at any level, a decision the organization said was “standing” until Friday.

WURD said its decision was partly motivated by the consequences of Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos And Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong to pressure their editors not to endorse Harris. Both newspapers have faced intense opposition to the decisions along with the Post lost more than 200,000 subscribers following the non-approval.

“We are witnessing how democracy is dying – in the dark pockets of greedy owners,” WURD said.

The station is the only black-owned radio station in Pennsylvania, and only one of three remaining national radio stations, a statistic that WURD also said it took into account before levying the aid.

When President Joe Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, WURD radio presenter Andrea Lawful left the station after it was revealed that Lawful had relied on a series of questions from the Biden campaign to interview the president on air in July. The interview followed a poor debate performance by Biden experts, Democratic operatives and Biden’s own staff question whether Biden should stay in the race.

“It is not at all unusual for interviewees to share topics they would prefer,” a Biden campaign spokesman said told the Washington Post at the time. However, WURD president and CEO Sara Lomax said the use of the agreed questions was contrary to “our practice of remaining an independent media outlet accountable to our listeners”, compromised trust and “no practice is true WURD Radio is involved in or endorses this. a matter of practice or official policy.”

Lawful had arranged the interview and gone through the list of questions without the knowledge of WURD management.

Before making the approval, WURD said it took into account how Harris and former President Donald Trump would address issues important to Philadelphia’s black community, such as reproductive freedom and maternal mortality, student loan forgiveness and the causes of systemic poverty. In Philadelphia, non-Hispanic black women made up 43% of people giving birth, but more than 73% of pregnancy-related deaths in Philadelphia between 2013 and 2018, according a 2022 study from the City of Philadelphia. Historically Philly residents are paying off more student loan debt than graduates living in other major U.S. cities.

“These policies that impact our community are an issue that the Harris-Walz campaign is committed to implementing,” WURD said.

The WURD statement also compared this moment to the election of Barack Obama in 2008, in that Harris’ identity would “herald a new era of possibility for young women everywhere, especially for Black and brown women and girls.”

“We have seen how the Black community has been vilified and underestimated during this election,” the channel said. “WURD Radio has been able to offer a counter story… This is our job, day and day out.”