ELECTION/FLORIDA/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Two days after President Trump held a political rally in the hurricane-thrashed Florida Panhandle last week, Samuel Rogatinsky, the owner of three FM radio stations in the region, made an unusual announcement: His stations would be airing snippets of Mr. Trump’s speech for two minutes every hour until Election Day — in 2020. Mr. Rogatinsky figured his decision would be popular in the deeply red Panhandle, where Mr. Trump filled an outdoor amphitheater on May 8 and promised to bring in federal aid for people still struggling to recover from the wrath of Hurricane Michael, the Category 5 storm that ravaged the region last October. What the station owner did not expect was the immediate national and international interest in his plan to effectively give Mr. Trump free airtime for the duration of his re-election campaign…Mr. Rogatinsky, a 49-year-old lawyer in Fort Lauderdale and a registered Democrat, said he was not motivated by politics, though he voted for Mr. Trump in 2016. He said his intent was to express ‘sincere appreciation’ for the president’s attention to the broad swath of the Panhandle affected by the hurricane — and still awaiting the emergency relief funding that has been tied up in a political fight in Congress for seven months.”
–Patricia Mazzei, “Trump Is on the Radio. Once Every Hour. For 538 Days.,” The New York Times online, May 15, 2019