When it comes to talk radio, controversy can be a daily occurrence. Opinions can lead to modest to severe listener and even client reaction. In terms of controversy, sometimes it can be turned into a positive. WOR-AM, New York (710) PD Scott Lakefield says, "Radio is a forum. When Michael Savage said on a show that autism is a 'fraud,' people were upset and listeners complained. But what it also did was it got the word out and highlighted autism." Taking that a step further was Jim Horn, the PD/morning host and 32-year veteran of WSBA-AM (910) in York, Pennsylvania who cited a local supermarket controversy as being a positive for his station. When a supermarket manager and station advertising client complained about what listeners were saying about his store and demanded retractions and free airtime for rebuttal, Horn asked if there was any truth to the listener's gripes. Upon finding out there was some truth to it, Horn told him, "What we did was actually give you thousands of dollars in free research which highlighted a weakness." In the end, "that manager thanked us." West Palm Beach, Florida talk host Joyce Kaufman, who became the center of controversy when she backed a Tea Party candidate for Congress who won his election, says, "Your relationships with sponsors is critical. When (trouble) happened, I called the advertisers on my show to stand by them. In the end our relationships became stronger. If the station GM had abandoned me, everybody would have lost." Lakefield, Kaufman and Horn were all part of a forum discussing managing controversy at the Talkers "New Media Seminar" a two-day conference held Friday and Saturday.