Here Comes Da Fairness Doctrine Again
Mary Anne Simpson
January 17, 2007
The Fairness Doctrine got its start in 1969 when a court case said in essence, your media is so strong and has such a great influence on the public, you need to provide time for divergent opinions on matters of public interest.
The case Red Lion Broadcasting vs FCC stated in regards to the licensee requirement to share the frequency, "It is the right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcaster that is paramount."
The Fairness Doctrine embarked on a rocky road of interpretation and sometimes hung over the precipice until his free fall death in 1987. The arguments pivoted on one side saying keep the government out under the guise of preserving editorial independence and the other side recognizing the sway on editorial independence was influenced heavily by corporate/political dollars.
The defeat of the Fairness Doctrine came about in one of those brilliantly sounding conservative opinions by Justice Scalia and Judge Robert Bork in 1986 in the D.C. District Court of Appeals which avoided the First Amendment argument entirely and simply found that Congress had never made the Fairness Doctrine a law.
It found that the FCC had no obligation to enforce the Fairness Doctrine because it was simply a matter of discretion. Within a year, the Fairness Doctrine was repealed by the FCC and every attempt to revive it by Congress resulted in vetoes by Presidents Reagan and Bush Senior, according to an article by Steven Rendall, The Fairness Doctrine.
As I recall in a course at UCI, taught by an expert on the Fairness Doctrine, the gist of the protection is the fact that newspapers were diminishing and the concern was about company town newspapers.
The advent of the home computer and the internet was not part of the landscape of America. Still the ownership by large corporate interests, GE, individuals like Rupert Murdoch and the merger of news papers, radio and T.V. makes the issue viable today as it was 30 years ago.
So, the interesting news is that last weekend the Fairness Doctrine came alive for a few minutes at the National Conference for Media Reform in Memphis, Tennessee, as reported by industry source FMQB.
With about every big wig in and on the periphery of the radio industry in attendance Dennis Kucinich, (D-Ohio) announced his committee is going to take up the Fairness Doctrine and an array of issues involving the FCC this session.
Kucinich is reported to have said, "We know the media has become the servant of a very narrow corporate agenda." He further stated in essence that Congress was in a better position to bring the issue out in the open.
In addition the current Commissioner of the FCC gave a speech challenging broadcasters to provide news. He said, "too little news and too much baloney passed off as news," according to FMQB.
It must have been a happening event that should have been aired prime time instead of the Friars Roast. Time to get out of the closet for the Fairness Doctrine and who knows maybe it will be good for everybody.
The case Red Lion Broadcasting vs FCC stated in regards to the licensee requirement to share the frequency, "It is the right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcaster that is paramount."
The Fairness Doctrine embarked on a rocky road of interpretation and sometimes hung over the precipice until his free fall death in 1987. The arguments pivoted on one side saying keep the government out under the guise of preserving editorial independence and the other side recognizing the sway on editorial independence was influenced heavily by corporate/political dollars.
The defeat of the Fairness Doctrine came about in one of those brilliantly sounding conservative opinions by Justice Scalia and Judge Robert Bork in 1986 in the D.C. District Court of Appeals which avoided the First Amendment argument entirely and simply found that Congress had never made the Fairness Doctrine a law.
It found that the FCC had no obligation to enforce the Fairness Doctrine because it was simply a matter of discretion. Within a year, the Fairness Doctrine was repealed by the FCC and every attempt to revive it by Congress resulted in vetoes by Presidents Reagan and Bush Senior, according to an article by Steven Rendall, The Fairness Doctrine.
As I recall in a course at UCI, taught by an expert on the Fairness Doctrine, the gist of the protection is the fact that newspapers were diminishing and the concern was about company town newspapers.
The advent of the home computer and the internet was not part of the landscape of America. Still the ownership by large corporate interests, GE, individuals like Rupert Murdoch and the merger of news papers, radio and T.V. makes the issue viable today as it was 30 years ago.
So, the interesting news is that last weekend the Fairness Doctrine came alive for a few minutes at the National Conference for Media Reform in Memphis, Tennessee, as reported by industry source FMQB.
With about every big wig in and on the periphery of the radio industry in attendance Dennis Kucinich, (D-Ohio) announced his committee is going to take up the Fairness Doctrine and an array of issues involving the FCC this session.
Kucinich is reported to have said, "We know the media has become the servant of a very narrow corporate agenda." He further stated in essence that Congress was in a better position to bring the issue out in the open.
In addition the current Commissioner of the FCC gave a speech challenging broadcasters to provide news. He said, "too little news and too much baloney passed off as news," according to FMQB.
It must have been a happening event that should have been aired prime time instead of the Friars Roast. Time to get out of the closet for the Fairness Doctrine and who knows maybe it will be good for everybody.
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