How we book the show — and why you can't buy a seat.

1. Coverage is never for sale

No one can pay to be a guest on any SpeaX show, to be mentioned in a story, or to have a story softened, delayed or killed. Guests are booked on merit: a real Sarasota story, told by the person who lived it. The hosts write the questions. Guests don't see them in advance, and they don't get approval over the edit.

2. Sponsorship is clearly labeled and kept separate

Sponsors buy clearly identified placements — host-read ads, named segments, studio naming. Every one is disclosed on air or in print as sponsored. A sponsor never sees a story before it's published, never chooses a guest, and never sits in on an edit. If a sponsor's business is the subject of a story, the story runs with the sponsorship disclosed, and the sponsor gets the same treatment as anyone else.

3. Sponsor complaints get the firewall, not an edit

If a sponsor objects to something we covered, the answer is this page. We would rather lose a sponsor than an audience. We've budgeted for that, emotionally and financially, so that the decision is never made under pressure.

4. Fairness

If we cover a public issue, a business dispute, or an election, everyone involved gets the same invitation and the same questions. Anyone criticized on the show is offered a chance to respond. When we get something wrong, we say so in the same place we got it wrong — on the episode, in the description and here.

5. Hosts' own businesses

The hosts own businesses in Sarasota. Those businesses may sponsor the show, and that sponsorship is disclosed like any other. They are not covered as stories, and a host does not interview a guest with whom they have a direct financial relationship without saying so on air.

6. What this doesn't restrict

We're a show, not a wire service. Hosts have opinions and share them. Guests plug their businesses, because that's part of their story. Fun is allowed. The firewall is about one thing: money never decides what gets covered or how.