The Fairness Doctrine was a good thing
Last edited Sat Oct 6, 2018, 09:35 PM - Edit history (1)
I was program director of a small radio station 28 years ago. I had worked there for 13 years, most of which was during the days of the Fairness Doctrine. And, contrary to right- wing belief, the Fairness Doctrine was not a nightmare of constantly having opposing sides demanding time to be heard, and it never limited anyone's 1st Amendment rights. In fact, it worked to strengthen the 1st Amendment.
We would host morning talk shows on many different issues, all the while remaining neutral, letting listeners make up their own minds. People were courteous, and it was often hard to tell what side of an issue people were on because they called in, not to put down “the other side”, but for information to use in forming their own ideas. It was a forum, not an arena for competition.
Having worked in the business first hand, I feel I can honestly say that the Fairness Doctrine was a good thing. It kept things balanced, unlike today where radio stations can be totally one-sided 24 hours a day. To my mind, getting rid of the Fairness Doctrine for broadcasting was the first step toward the awful divisiveness that exists in this country today.
Some would say the Fairness Doctrine was “government control”. To those people l would ask: what about other kinds of “control”? Every law is a form of control. Are we to get rid of all laws because they “control” us? Good laws protect as well as control. The Fairness Doctrine was in place to protect the airwaves from becoming one sided.
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Last edited Sat Oct 6, 2018, 02:48 PM - Edit history (1)
The fairness doctrine of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, was a policy that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was—in the FCC's view—honest, equitable, and balanced.
The FCC eliminated the policy in 1987 and removed the rule that implemented the policy from the Federal Register in August 2011. The fairness doctrine is not the same as the equal-time rule. The fairness doctrine deals with discussion of controversial issues, while the equal-time rule deals only with political candidates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine
Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Propaganda Minister, radio and motion pictures became powerful instruments of fascist propaganda and hate during the 1920s-1940s.
Father Charles Coughlin, popular Michigan 'radio priest' broadcast speeches during the 1920s and 1930s Great Depression. His bigotry, anti Semitism and pro fascist views were so offensive that it took FDR, the Vatican and Joe Kennedy to bring him down. The radio priest is considered the 'father of right wing radio.'
Getting rid of the Fairness Doctrine was among its first well-planned steps. 30+ years later, younger generations are inculcated daily by Faux News, Rush Limbaugh and other rightwing propagandizers. Even their textbooks. Combined with relaxed media ownership rules, which has enabled a consolidation of most major media outlets into a few hands, it's a wonder Dems have been able to hold on as long as we have.
During a coup d-etat one of the first acts is to control the news media. I wish we'd start taking this whole subject more seriously. 
is CLEARLY one of the major contributors to the destruction of this nation! 
Faux News
Rush...and other Hate Talk Radio propagandist pundits
Without these tools fascist leaders like Drumpf and McTurtle would never survive.
Congress in the 1930's had this figured out - and could envision the danger that a politically electronic media (Public RADIO) could pose!
