Robert F. Kennedy Jr: Fox News Has Divided Country In A Way Not Seen Since Civil War

[iemitsu]

80. The Fairnes Doctrine was established to make sure that

privately owned broadcast companies would serve the interests of the public since their programing is broadcast over publicly held airwaves. It was part of the deal companies made to gain access to the airwaves. They still have access to the audience but no longer have to make payment to the public, in the form of balanced programing.
The argument used to justify dumping the Fairness Doctrine was that the numbers of broadcast networks and increased to the public nullified the need for balanced programing since there would be more choice for listeners/viewers. There are many areas of the country where this choice does not exist. And even in urban areas the voice of big business dominates the air (it has been quantified and between 80% and 90% of the total air space has right wing programming.
I am not crusader to have the Fairness Doctrine reinstated but it had the effect of bringing a middling approach top news reporting (catering to the lump in the middle of your bell curve).
Certainly I think that privately owned programming or websites have the right to determine the structure and content of their shows/boards and I was not thinking of official attitudes or rules when I suggested that ideas that question the status-quo are challenged on DU. Rather I was thinking of the tendency of many to defend accepted institutions and ideas even in the face of evidence that indicates they don't deserve defense. specifically I had in mind, those who belittle people's concerns about the nuclear industry but there are other examples. I was not thinking about 9/11 when I posted.
All of these observations I made, not as criticism of DU, but as a way to understand the impact that Fox News has had on the public.
Evidently I was not clear when posting earlier. I don't think you are full of shit but I do think you misread my intent.
I'm sure its my fault.