RI: Chafee to Issue Ban on Talk Radio Interviews for State Officials

From The Note:

State officials in Rhode Island will soon be ordered to stay off the airways, provided the interviewer happens to be a talk show host. A spokesman for [Independent] Gov. Lincoln Chafee tells the Providence Journal that talk radio is essentially “ratings-driven, for-profit programming,” and “we don’t think it is appropriate to use taxpayer resources” to have state employees use work time to “support for-profit, ratings-driven programming.”

Chafee intends to stay off the air, too, reversing something of a trend.  His predecessor, Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri, was a frequent talk radio guest, as are many current and former governors and big city mayors across the country. . . .