Before Appleton’s remarks, Cumulus warned hosts they could be fired for election comments
A day before Ray Appleton called for news editors to be “hanged,” his Fresno radio station’s corporate parent ordered hosts to stop saying the presidential election was stolen.
The longtime KMJ talk show host on Thursday said “Certain news editors should be hanged. Maybe.” while addressing media coverage of the invasion of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump.
Appleton wrote on Facebook his words were taken out of context, apologized and later deleted the post. Then he was suspended.
On Monday, The Washington Post reported that a Cumulus Media executive wrote in a memo to talk show hosts to stop suggesting the election was stolen, or they’d face termination. The memo came on Wednesday, the same day Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, resulting in six deaths.
KMJ is owned by Atlanta-based Cumulus Media.
Appleton made his comments on-air on Thursday. He faced swift backlash from elected officials, community members and media experts.
It’s not clear if anyone at KMJ received the Cumulus memo. The Bee reached out to Cumulus for comment but did not hear back. KMJ’s program director last week declined to comment on Appleton’s comments.
Cumulus owns and operates 416 stations across 86 markets in the nation. Some of its most popular hosts include Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro; both national shows air on KMJ.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 2:39 PM.