Posted on 07/04/2008 5:05:48 AM PDT by Crush
What is the Fairness Doctrine?
- It’s NOT about fairness
o It is a government plan to censor talk radio and Christian radio
- FCC regulation that requires broadcasting stations to air both sides of a controversial issue
o Reduces, rather than encourages discussion of controversial issues of public importance o While in effect, broadcasters limited controversial programming in fear of government sanction and administrative and legal expenses
- Equal time would be provided free of charge, becoming costly to broadcasting licensees, who would eventually drop popular shows like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham
o In fact, Bill Ruder, an assistant secretary of commerce under John F. Kennedy, admitted to CBS News producer Fred Friendly that “our massive strategy was to use the Fairness Doctrine to challenge and harass right-wing broadcasters and hope the challenges would be so costly to them that they would be inhibited and decide it was too expensive to continue.”
- Christian radio programs would be threatened as Christian beliefs such as sexuality, marriage, parental responsibility, and the sanctity of human life are considered controversial, or even hate speech
- Should be left to the free market – equal opportunity, not equal results
(Excerpt) Read more at crushingchris.com ...
It’s fair to the socialists who want to restrict free speech and replace our representative democracy with socialism.
OK, BUT, wouldn’t conservatives also be able to force, say, Air America and Pacifica Radio to air competing viewpoints?
I’ve been following this ‘Fairness Doctrine’ somewhat closely since last year, and it continues to astonish me that the US, the beacon of freedom, would even consider something like this.
If a law like this was passed in Zimbabwe, we’d all be condemning it. Not even China is hypocritical enough to mask their opressive censorship as having anything to do with ‘fairness’.
They have no audience. You’re trading a 747 for a cardboard cutout from a corn flake box.
what i was looking for is, can you give them “equal” time at one in the morning ?
“’equal’ time at one in the morning ?”
That would be a clever workaround. Keep in mind that things are rarely as good, or as bad as we think they will be at first - I doubt that this would be the “end” of conservative or Christian radio, but it would sorely dampen it.
But the point is that we can stop this before it gets to that point. Look at Mike Pence’s Discharge Petition - if your US Representative’s name is not on the list, send them an email!
I am sorry but the liberals will exempt the Drive-By Media or otherwise protect it from the Fairness Doctrine. Probably, they will limit it to talk radio by limiting the doctrine “editorial” airtime; the DBMs will claim that their airtime is not “editorial” but “journalistic” and thus not subject to the Fairness Doctrine; Liberals in the FCC, Congress and the courts will back them up. “Presto!” they’re free and clear while Rush and Hannity are limited to XM and the internet.
If 1 a.m. is ok, then Rush already has his equal time, balance, on the air. George Noory might have to drop the bigfoot and UFO programs and stick with a steady diet of political bilge. Actually, since he's on 7 days, Rush or another conservative needs to cover an additional 6 hrs./wk. just to make it even!
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