I’ve been hearing all about this “Fairness Doctrine” on the radio now that all of the election buzz is over. What is this “fairness doctrine” you ask? Here is what Wikipedia has to say.
The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States 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 upheld the Commission’s general right to enforce such a policy where channels were limited, but the courts have generally not ruled that the FCC is obliged to do so. In 1987, the FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine, prompting some to urge its reintroduction through either Commission policy or Congressional legislation.
I also found an interesting article from Fred Langemark III about it and I couldn’t agree with him more. I think unbiased media is an oxymoron these days, but I do think that it is a bad idea to try and start restricting what can be said and by who. There are so many ways to find information in today’s world that as individuals, each of us should be able to decide who we want to listen to and be able to find our own facts. I listen to Rush & Sean when I’m in the car, but I disagree with 99% of the things they say… but to me it’s entertaining and I always find it interesting to hear the arguments and opinions of the extremists out there and then I am able to look at the facts and fiction and make my own decisions. Putting something like the fairness doctrine in place would make a lot of the people listened to in the media into liars and hypocrites, which some already are! Just leave that thing alone. People can choose what and who they want to listen to and if they want to blindly believe everything they hear, without their own investigation and fact checking, then they were lost in the first place.