Today's Poll Question: Should Media Outlets Air Every Presidential Address Live?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
Get ready to vote on today's daily poll question at smerconish.com.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:05)
But first, Michael explains it for you right here.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:08)
Welcome to The Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:11)
For Independent Minds.

**Michael Smerconish** (0:13)
Hello, hello. Hi, gang. Today is Tuesday. It's the 21st of July, 2026 I've got a lot of things that I'm eager to share with you. Yesterday, I had a fabulous guest on radio. Really, really terrific. Dr. Joseph Turow, a professor emeritus at Annenberg. That's the School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, joining us to talk about a brand new book that he's written about personalization, hyper personalization. In other words, he takes our concerns over surveillance and privacy in an AI world to a new dimension by saying there's also a societal cost when they, they, the marketers, they, artificial intelligence, know us so well for our individual characteristics, then they accentuate those, they target them as such, and what we lose is our sense of community. It's all about fragmentation. Yesterday's poll question was not directly on that, but was inspired by the discussion that we had. I asked, which is more valuable to you?
Which do you value more, the benefits that you're deriving or will derive from AI or your privacy?
28,796 said, 78% of the 28,796 said, they value their privacy, they value their privacy. Please go to my YouTube page. You can watch. This is a perfect example of what I often promote here on the Daily Poll Podcast. You can watch the full hour long in broadcast time conversation that I had with Dr. Turo. And it's kind of cool because coincidentally, there were 20 college students who took a bus from Virginia to watch yesterday's program in person, and they were here. And when the dialogue, you know, when the light went off on the radio program, Dr. Turo and I then spoke to the students, and that was a wonderful conversation as well. Today, should media outlets air live what an American president says will be a major address to the nation? You know why I'm asking that? If it's at all possible, try and think of it in terms beyond the current commander-in-chief, because it's a recurring issue. I'll talk about that in a moment.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:41)
The Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

**Michael Smerconish** (2:44)
Summertime is a great time at Parks Casino, my casino of choice, something for everybody, action, headline entertainment, award-winning dining.
You can also stay at the beautiful new Parks View Hotel, which is just steps away from Parks Casino and offers free shuttle service. And what then do you have at your disposal? Well, dining, drinks, you've got fabulous gaming opportunities, you've got the sports book available to you, and live entertainment. Smokey Robinson coming September 18, The Magic of Michael Carbonaro on September 19, comedian Tommy Chong from Cheech and Chong on September 21, the classic rock song Sounds of America, always Ventura Highway, always loved America, comedian Bobby Lee in September, comedian Jim Jeffries in October, comedian Michelle Wolf in December, seven-time Grammy Award winner, country music fave Lady A, December 18 Parks Casino to buy your tickets, parkscasino.com, right off Pennsylvania's Turnpike, the Pennsylvania Turnpike exit of I-95. You've got to be 21, gambling problem call, 1-800-GAMBLER.
Energy, it's more than a utility. It's what powers all life's moments and possibilities for generations to come. It's what helps build brighter futures for all. So no matter how the world and its energy needs change, Southern companies' commitment to meeting those needs stays the same. They're continuously looking forward, forecasting how to support communities and deliver clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy. And that means together, we're ready for what's next. Learn more at southerncompany.com. Southern Company, Building the Future of Energy.

**SPEAKER_2** (4:26)
The Daily Poll Question at smerconish.com.

**SPEAKER_1** (4:29)
A non-scientific, social-political question, designed to spark broader discussions about current issues.

**SPEAKER_2** (4:34)
Get ready to cast your ballot and leave a rating and review of this podcast on your favorite podcast app.

**Michael Smerconish** (4:41)
So we talked about this yesterday on air. And I thought, OK, I've got to ask this now as a poll question. President Trump spoke to the nation last Thursday night. Prime time address, it ends up being about alleged election fraud. His claims largely debunked. But nevertheless, you had a commander in chief asking the television networks, the old school ABC, NBC, CBS, and the cable outlets for broadcast time. And for the first time that I can recall, he was like totally rebuffed. In fact, I'll tell you something interesting about what went on apparently at CBS. And certain of them, CNN included, not only didn't take it, but they spoke about it, which was kind of an odd juxtaposition. In other words, I was watching and monitoring on an Apple TV. I could see four screens at once. So I saw Fox News took it live. I saw MSNOW took it live. CNN didn't take it live, but talked about it live. Talked about it live in real time. And I wrote a newsletter note addressing what I would have done. And then I delivered it as a commentary on CNN. And I have to say, even though I didn't name CNN, I mean, I'm not looking to be at cross purposes with my employer, but I thought that this was a serious issue that deserved some comment. And I thought I handled it. I hope I handled it in a dignified way by making my position clear. And to the credit of CNN, they took that commentary that I delivered, which I'll share with you in short form, and they posted it on their home page Saturday and Sunday. I said this, Thursday night, President Trump asked for the nation's attention for a primetime address, a speech most broadcast networks declined to carry live. Here's what I would have done. If instead of speaking Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern, the president had spoken at 9 a.m. Eastern, a time when my radio program airs nationwide, the decision would have been mine as to whether to interrupt my normal programming and carry the speech live on SiriusXM's POTUS Channel. This actually happens with some regularity. In fact, it's often the bane of my existence because the president, all presidents, are rarely on time. But my standard practice is to take the remarks live, and it's an easy call. Had I taken the speech, primarily on alleged election interference, I would not have been endorsing the content, and it would have been incumbent on me to offer fair comment when it ended. But if I hadn't taken the feed and merely monitored what he said, only to then offer a critique, I don't think that would be fair to the office of the president.