Some members
of Congress are talking about resurrecting
the “fairness doctrine” for talk radio, a decades-old federal regulation
(dropped by President Reagan) which mandated that radio and TV broadcasts were
supposed to give equal time to opposing sides of any given political issue
(remember all the conservative commentators of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s?).
Under the pretense of “ensuring both sides are heard” and fixing the supposed
“structural defects” that allow conservatives to dominate talk radio, members of
Congress such as Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) are
proposing that radio stations be subjected to FCC regulation to ensure that
“progressives” (i.e. liberals) are allowed equal time. Since the
“progressive” (liberal) AirAmerica radio network didn’t catch on with the
American public, liberals have decided to mandate you be exposed to liberal
viewpoints. This could have the effect of stifling a popular and informative
medium, but more importantly it presents a dangerous threat to free speech
rights found in the First Amendment. Such obviously unconstitutional
and un-American legislation must be steadfastly opposed, and legislators
who support such foolishness should be held accountable.
For all
their supposed concern about the “unfair” imbalance of opinion on talk radio,
one would think they would be just as eager to federally mandate “fairness” in
newspapers and network TV. Hmm…Go figure.
UPDATE:
This article by Rich Galen at TownHall gives some important
historical perspective on the nefarious fairness doctrine.