Demos to revive ‘Fairness Doctrine’

(The Patriot Post) - Rumor has it that Senate Democrats are hoping to bring back the Fairness Doctrine, an FCC rule scrapped 20 years ago that called for broadcast licensees to give equal time to opposing viewpoints on matters of public importance. The conservative dominance of talk radio has led liberals to move toward reviving it, but don’t think for a moment this is in the interest of fairness. It is worth noting that the one medium those on the Left keep coming back to is radio. They don’t complain about newspapers, network evening news or the largest selling weekly newsmagazines, because those venues are all comfortably liberal. Yet, because the largest audiences in radio belong to conservative hosts, Demos want to create a picture that equal time is not being given to liberal viewpoints. In fact, conservative dominance of talk radio merely reflects conservative pre-eminence in the marketplace of ideas. No wonder liberals don’t get it.

The most likely outcome of the reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine is a return to the timid days of canned news and views, when government challenges to private broadcasters were enough to keep many reporters and editorialists from stirring controversy and drawing attention to politicians. A media culture such as this promotes incumbency in public office, but it does not serve the best interests of the public.