Posted on 01/31/2007 6:37:00 AM PST by rface
I'm not out to hush Rush Limbaugh, put a lid on G. Gordon Liddy, shut down Sean Hannity or ravage Michael Savage. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the dissemination of right-wing opinion on the public airwaves. This is, after all, America.
I do have a problem when all this conservative talk is not even remotely balanced by voices from the left. (Quick, name one prominent, nationally-syndicated liberal radio host.)
Due to the near total absence of the viewpoint of the left from the public airwaves, I think it's high time to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. It's a policy that was adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1949 that had as its centerpiece the requirement that stations air contrasting points of view on controversial news issues.
The policy was grounded in the fact that the public owned the airwaves, not the companies given license to operate them. Companies awarded licenses were once considered to be public trustees and mandated to offer fair and balanced broadcasts.
Millions of citizens can be reached via TV and radio, and the airwaves are an essential, and scarce, resource for the kind of basic information that's necessary and vital to maintain an informed citizenry and a functioning democracy.
The Fairness Doctrine was done away with in 1987 and the effects can be seen and heard everyday by those Americans searching for voices from the American left.
More often than not, it's the sound of silence.
Maybe the biggest misconception concerning the Fairness Doctrine is the inaccurate notion that it would require shows to be internally balanced or that opposing viewpoints would have to break down along 50/50 lines. Nothing of the sort. Steve Rendall, writing for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting in 2005, put it well when he wrote: "The Fairness Doctrine simply prohibited stations from broadcasting from a single perspective, day after day, without presenting opposing views."
Sadly, in many large American markets, the only perspectives presented on both TV and radio are from the right or the hard right. It's difficult to spot a labor leader, an environmental activist or an anti-war/peace advocate.
You probably think liberals get poor ratings. Not true. The most egregious example of a prominent liberal getting yanked off the airwaves was when MSNBC cable TV channel canceled Phil Donahue despite his having the highest ratings in his time slot. This occurred in the run-up to the war in Iraq. FAIR Founder Jeff Cohen cited a study commissioned by NBC warning that "the Donahue show could be a home for the liberal anti-war agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity."
Low ratings?
Louis Slaughter, D-N.Y., has a resolution before Congress to restore the Fairness Doctrine. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, wants to hold hearings to help reinstate it.
And really, it's not about left and right. It's about what's right and wrong for this country.
Getting only one side of any issue day-in, day-out is a raw deal for the republic.
Gene Racz covers Middlesex County and is co-author of "Bury My Heart at Cooperstown" (Triumph, 2006). He can be reached at (732) 565-7306 or gracz@thnt.com.
Barf alert?
Hey Dipsh*t - it's a free market. Put your own liberal talkers on. Oh wait - that's already been tried and none of them have been a success at garnering listeners and making a profit!
What planet does this guy watch tv on?
I swear, those Lefties get a *little* bit of power and suddenly they want to impose all their failed policies again.
Gene - Quick name some who have tried but failed. Several come to mind rather quickly, but then I suppose that doesn't fit in with your liberal mindset does it?
In order for it to be balanced you have got to have a liberal radio station stay in business. Is Hannity suppose to have Colmes on his radio show also?
Seems to me that the right wing radio shows are trying to balance out all the left wing TV propaganda. Would the fairness doctrine be applied to TV as well?
Another useless idiot heard from.
And I have an even BIGGER problem w/ nosy busybodies like you, Gene, who interfere w/ the free market. Go nanny something else, loser.
Back by popular demand....I don't think so.
I sat through Jeff Cohen's FAIR rant on CSPAN this weekend. I believe it was replayed from earlier in the month. I've never heard so much BS in all my life. After he spoke, lib after lib came up to voice their idiotic notions. It was nothing more than a socialist hootenanny.
If they want fairness and balance for airwave talk shows, then I demand fairness and balance in hiring school and college teachers and professors, judge appointments, newspapers, magazines, and politics. To be really fair, it should work both ways, right?
I guess he would also advocate that the Chicago Cubs be handed the NL pennant since they haven't won one since 1945. Hey it's only "fair".
there already is a liberal talk network on the radio and its government subsidized too... NPR
anyone have this dipsht's email address?
He's a typical leftist - "I don't have the skills to compete in the free market, so I'm going to pass a law to make sure I can."
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