Congress Reconsiders the Fairness Doctrine February 22, 2009 by Priscilla King Should TV and Radio Be Free to Broadcast Political Content? In 1949, the FCC adopted a rule called the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to give "equal time" to all sides of a political dispute. Like many efforts to create fairness by imposing "equality," this policy never worked in the way that was intended. Even when the Communist Party,... didn't demand time to broadcast their views, in practice it turned out that the mainstream parties could not always present equally successful broadcasts. If a successful Democrat's show couldn't be...