Last night before we went to bed, my husband and I were watching Fox News. Surprising, huh? They were discussing the Fairness Doctrine and legislature that is being pushed by several Democrats to make this policy law. I was so confused. What is the Fairness Doctrine and why haven’t I heard of it? How can someone who watches the news all day everyday not know what this is.
So today whenever I had the chance, I began my research. Here’s how Wikipedia described the doctrine in general.
The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that required the holders of broadcast licenses to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was honest, equitable, and balanced. The United States Supreme Court has upheld the Commission’s general right to enforce such a policy where channels are limited, but the courts have generally not considered that the FCC is obliged to do so.[1] The FCC has since withdrawn the Fairness Doctrine, prompting some to urge its reintroduction through either Commission policy or Congressional legislation.
In other words, a radio show presenting a conservative opinion would, by law, have to provide equal and fair opportunity for the liberal point of view.
Understand that I am only in my first day of researching and reading on this topic so these are only my initial thoughts. Why would a law need to exist that would regulate the content of radio broadcasts in a country that has the freedom of speech? Who would be in charge of regulating such a law? Who gets to decided what is “fair?” I initially wondered why anyone, liberal or conservative, would be for such a law. Liberal talk radio hosts wouldn’t want equal time for conservative thought, no more than Rush Limbaugh would welcome equal billing for a liberal counterpart. Here’s what my limited research has uncovered.
Rush Limbaugh is the number one radio talk show with an average of 14.2 listeners a week. He is followed by:
2. Sean Hannity
3. Michael Savage
4. Dr. Laura Schlessinger
5. Glenn Beck
6. Laura Ingraham
7. Mark Levin
All in this list are conservatives. I guess I didn’t realize that conservative talk radio had so many more listeners. Could this be why liberal legislators want things to be more “fair?” I will continue to read more about this issue and I’m sure it will be a topic in the future.
10 November 2008, 5:52 am
This slipped by me too. I heard about it recently, and I’m apalled. But, hey that’s just the first step in a long line of actions intended to squelch free speech.