February 2, 1984
Prior to the President's announcement of his candidacy for reelection, various radio broadcasters were carrying his weekly Saturday morning broadcasts as a public service and also providing an opportunity for the airing of opposing views. Now that the President is a candidate, however, it has become apparent that the continued broadcast of these public service talks has caused some concern to the broadcasters because of a number of complicated questions under existing Federal communications statutes and regulations.
Although the President does not believe that his weekly talks have been partisan in nature, to avoid creating confusion and potentially cumbersome legal issues for broadcasters who wish to continue to carry the President's weekly radio talks, the President has directed his campaign committee (Reagan-Bush '84) to purchase sufficient broadcast time to ensure the continued broadcast of those talks during the period of his campaign.