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The Return of the Fairness Doctrine?
Slithe writes "Last week at the National Conference for Media Reform, Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich (a long-shot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination) stated that the Fairness Doctrine may be reinstated. Kucinich will be heading up a new House subcommittee that will focus on issues around the FCC. The Fairness Doctrine was an FCC regulation that required broadcast media to present controversial issues in an honest, equal, and balanced manner. The FCC repealed it in 1987 — Democrats at the time tried to forestall this move but were ultimately thwarted by a veto by President Ronald Reagan. Critics of the Fairness Doctrine have stated that it was only used to intimidate and silence political opposition. At the convention, Kucinich said, 'We know the media has become the servant of a very narrow corporate agenda. We are now in a position to move a progressive agenda to where it is visible.'" In the interest of fairness, here is a Republican, free-market perspective on the return of the Fairness Doctrine.
Why do I feel uncomfortable with the government regulating 'fairness' with respect to media?
"'We know the media has become the servant of a very narrow corporate agenda. We are now in a position to move a progressive agenda to where it is visible.'"
So, we now move media to a different agenda?
My question really is, Will this really give us the balanced/fair coverage that we wish, or will it just bring our media even more left of center than what it is now?
The end of the fairness doctrine is what allowed corporate news outlets to project their owner's agenda onto the public, and allowed the birth of Fox News. You think Fox could continue to exist unchanged if the Fairness Doctrine was reinstated? Unlikely. O'Reilly's "shut up" and "turn his mike off" rudeness would be the first thing to go... good riddance. Subtler changes would certainly follow at the other news networks.
Edward R. Murrow has been spinning in his grave for 20 because of this. Can someone check if he's slowed down yet?
The same ABC that put out that "Path to 9/11" conservative hit-job on Bill Clinton? The one that just made stuff up out of this air?
THAT is a "liberal network?" A "liberal network" puts out a fake Documentary blaming Clinton for a huge failure on Bush's watch? (A failure purpotrated by the patron saint of the right, Ronny Reagan) How in the world do you reconcile that?
Your cognitive dissonance is showing.
The rest of the media (mostly) report facts, while Fox News reports "facts". Facts have a liberal bias, while "facts" can have any bias you want.
At one time we had this. Then, it went away and Clinton's Penis became the #1 news item of all time ever. Now, the nation's most popular news channel is brashly biased and continuously deceives, quantifiably damaging the electorate's understanding of their government and the world around them.
Excuse me, but I'd rather see the last 9 years of TV media "improvement" reversed. You imply that the leading political party would have complete control over the application of the fairness doctrine - this is in fact not the case. If this new doctrine were enforced by the FCC, under a clear and concise rubric, it would allow little room for the quashing of certain points of view - seeing as how it stipulates that conflicting points of view must necessarily be presented.
Absolute rubbish. The person you're referring to is claiming that GW Bush and McCain aren't conservatives, which is absolute nonsense. It's absurd, and so are you.
Tell the truth, you'd mod me down as a troll because it's illegal to kill people you disagree with. You'd rather just kill me for thinking differently than you, wouldn't you? If you notice, the person you're referring to attacked me first by saying that I hadn't "grown into" something or other.
If either you or he read my journal, you'd realize that I am well aware of the relativity of perspective, and you'd be embarassed to suggest that I don't understand it.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!