Who’s afraid of the big, bad Fairness Doctrine?

[D. A.]

I got this from a usenet newsgroup.  An interesting perspective that puts to rest all of the fearmongering about what the FD would entail.

Good analysis.

http://groups.google.com/group/ba.broadcast/browse_thread/thread/40a2cfc9a29ec1ad/ef3bd7f4cb24e4fa?lnk=gst&q=nick+name#ef3bd7f4cb24e4fa

Who’s afraid of the big, bad Fairness Doctrine?

By Steve Almond  |  November 9, 2009

OF ALL the Big Lies told by the pooh-bahs of talk radio - that our
biracial president hates white people, that global warming is a hoax,
that a public health care plan to compete with private insurers equals
socialism - the most desperate and deluded is this: that the so-called
Fairness Doctrine would squash free speech. 

Nonsense.

The Fairness Doctrine would not stop talk radio hosts from spewing the
invective that has made them so fabulously wealthy. All it would do is
subject their invective to a real-time reality check.

If you don’t believe me, consult the historical evidence. The Federal
Communications Commission adopted the Fairness Doctrine in 1949.
Because the airwaves were both public and limited, the FCC wanted to
ensure that licensees devoted “a reasonable amount of broadcast time
to the discussion of controversial issues,’’ and that they did so
“fairly, in order to afford reasonable opportunity for opposing
viewpoints.’’ That’s the whole shebang.

Pretty terrifying stuff, huh?