‘Unfairness’ Doctrine Down but Not Out
- Jun 24, 2008 - comment
From newspapers to news magazines to broadcast and cable television, the liberal bias reigns supreme. Talk radio has largely filled this void as the only medium for news that offers a heavier dose of conservative viewpoints. But without an act of Congress, conservative radio voices could soon be muzzled if not driven off the air altogether.
For nearly four decades, a policy deceptively titled the Fairness Doctrine required broadcasters to balance airtime with opposing viewpoints on “controversial issues of public importance.” The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1974 and 1985 that the policy curtailed free speech, and the Reagan administration rightly repealed it in 1987. Now liberals threaten to bring it back.
If you value the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion and believe the American people, not the government, should determine what types of issues are broadcast on the airwaves, please ask your congressman if he has signed Rep. Pence’s discharge petition on the Broadcaster Freedom Act (H.R. 2905) and urge him to do so if he has not already.
A radio talk show host turned U.S. congressman is urging his colleagues to support legislation to prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reviving the policy. But one year after Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act (H.R. 2905), the Democratic leadership has refused to bring it to the floor for a vote.
Undeterred, Rep. Pence is navigating his bill through another channel. He is asking his colleagues to sign onto a discharge petition that would force a vote on the bill if it attracts 218 House signatories, or a simple majority. His petition currently has 195 signatories, 23 short of the key number.
The congressman took first steps last summer toward sealing the casket of the Fairness Doctrine by introducing an amendment to place a one-year ban on the policy. The amendment passed with an impressive 309 votes; Republican support was universal, with 113 Democrats adding to the tally.
Yet none of the Democrats who supported the moratorium has added his name to the Broadcaster Freedom Act. The pressure not to do so is, apparently, coming from the top in the House and Senate. According to Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), “It’s time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine,” and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) has said she is “looking at” reviving the policy.
When the Fairness Doctrine was put in place in 1949, a case could be made for the need to give equal time to perspectives on hot-button issues in the media. Radio was limited to only a few stations, television consisted of the Big Three—ABC, CBS, and NBC—and the Internet had not yet been conceived. But more than a half-century later, there is no shortage of sources for news.
Now there is nothing fair about the Fairness Doctrine. It is simply another attempt to erode the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. In addition to muzzling conservative radio heavyweights like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, the policy could deny airtime to many Christian radio programs simply for addressing issues from a biblical perspective such as the sanctity of human life and God’s design for marriage. The three-hour live call-in radio program Richard Land Live! hosted Saturdays by the ERLC’s president, is one such program that would not be safe from the reach of the Fairness Doctrine.
Regulation of political thought on the airwaves today would be a giant step toward stifling free speech not ensuring its protection. It is time, as Rep. Pence has stated, to “send the Fairness Doctrine to the ash heap of broadcast history.”
If you value the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion and believe the American people, not the government, should determine what types of issues are broadcast on the airwaves, please ask your congressman if he has signed Rep. Pence’s discharge petition on the Broadcaster Freedom Act (H.R. 2905) and urge him to do so if he has not already.
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