Posted on 04/29/2005 5:57:00 AM PDT by OESY
...Ronald Reagan... secured his place in the conservative pantheon for tearing down... the Fairness Doctrine.
The Fairness Doctrine was a federal regulation, dating to 1949, which mandated "contrasting viewpoints" from broadcasters. In reality, the Fairness Doctrine ensured that incumbents got "free" TV coverage.... If a local broadcaster's news operation made the local congressman or his party look bad, Washington could threaten to blow up his broadcast license.
Ronald Reagan tore down this wall in 1987... Rush Limbaugh was the first man....
It wasn't obvious that conservatives soon would dominate talk radio....
What worked after speech became free in the spectrum ozone was hyper-articulate conservative hosts opening their microphones to millions of hyper-angry conservative voters....
In 1994, Newt Gingrich, his Contract With America and the Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1952 -- the years in which the Fairness Doctrine largely kept politics off the air....
For years, they claim, liberal managers in broadcasting, journalism, publishing and academia marginalized them. Were conservatives imagining that?....
Liberals now marvel at the energy and output of the conservative "movement" -- the talk shows, the think tanks, the blogosphere....
No more perfect example of the price the political system has paid for years of conservative shunning exists than the Senate's standoff over judges. You can find the reasons Democrats are shunning the Bush nominees to the appellate bench by consulting the Web site of People for the American Way -- abortion, corporate law, minimum wage, Social Security, environment. They disagree with these nominees on -- everything.
For Democrats, judicial philosophy is a cultural Armageddon. Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy have turned the Senate into a Branch Davidian compound. No one in the liberal cult is allowed to leave, including the hostage nominees -- unless they recant their conservatism....
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Good article. I just read it in the WSJ.
Woo-Hoo.... This article is a zinger and I love the fact that it's from the WSJ!
Awesome article.
One of the very few I've ever read that makes the connection between the elimination of the fairness doctrine mandate and the subsequent rise in talk radio powerhouses such as Limbaugh. At the same time, there has been a rise in the mainstream press towards just as much one sided "liberal" viewpoints masquerading as reporting. They no longer had to give lip service to fairness. What arose is a strange breed of reporting mixed with editorializing that is what passes as journalism today.
One should not discount the impact this had on Howard Stern's rise as well. His travelling freakshow has always been anti-PC, and not having to answer to "the other side" helped his cause as well.
D
For years, they claim, liberal managers in broadcasting, journalism, publishing and academia marginalized them. Were conservatives imagining that?
For anyone who was a "news junky" during any part of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s the answer is NO!
True, many cities still had conservative newspapers back then and that helped. Otherwise there were only limited circulation publications such as National Review. Time and US News did pretty good but as for TV the liberal "centrists" declared, "PBS's Firing Line was all the balance needed."
Modern conservatism came under full attack immediately after the JFK assassination, it was their criticism that caused Oswald to do it, liberals lied. Then came Goldwater's "hawkers of hate." JFK/LBJ liberals organized shills to complain to the FCC using the "Fairness Doctrine."
Never again!
It's free speech and our inalienable rights. It's worth spilling blood to stop anything like the Fairness Doctrine. Their blood, our rights.
Ping
Has any body read the book that is cited in the article, "South Park Conservatives"? It sounds interesting.
Just the fact that the Dims and the MSM are pushing so hard for the return of the Hush Rush Law (oops, I meant "Fairness Doctrine") should tell anyone just how odious it was.
Thanks for the heads up.
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