The Return of the Fairness Doctrine?

I'm starting to think that old or bad legislation doesn't die, it merely goes away to wreak havoc another day. First the immigration bill, now the so-called "fairness" doctrine. Reagan rightly repealed it during his administration, but now Democrats including Hound Dog Kerry, want to revive it - because the media is unbalanced. Right.

Thankfully, Republican Mike Pence (IN) is on the case and will be offering legislation to strip the FCC of its ability to dictate content. There's a lot more from Captain Ed here, and here; both are well worth reading.


Meanwhile, check Heritage's dissection of the "fairness" doctrine here; it points out that the reason the FCC's doctrine was upheld as constitutional in the sixties was that "because broadcast frequencies were scarce, the government may intervene in broadcast media in ways that would not be allowed toward traditional media, such as newspapers" - a situation no longer true. On those grounds, the doctrine should not be reinstated. If somehow it is, I expect it to be challenged and the Supreme Court to overturn. There's are also a "slippery slope" argument to be made - that once talk radio is re-regulated, why not TV or the internet?

When Democrats first started making noises about this a few months ago, I didn't take it seriously. Since then, Trent Lott infamously claimed that "talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem" (check out the full Fox News Sunday transcript); I'm not sure how widely his sentiments are shared within the Republican Party, but I don't think it's sufficient to pass this monstrosity. Still, I may have been wrong before.

But does it matter? One of my favorite interlocutors claims that it would be relative ineffective in the modern age - that the proliferation of new media (such as satellite radio and the Internet) would just allow talk radio pundits to flourish elsewhere. Sadly, the "slippery slope" argument makes such hopes short-lived at best. But there's also the principle of the matter: the FCC shouldn't have the right to dictate content; it can regulate for public morality purposes, but not to demand equal time.

When the Aurora newspaper slandered some of the Founding Fathers, their supporters didn't whine for equal time, they just founded their own papers! Democrats aren't concerned about fairness - after all, they own the MSM lock stock and barrel - they'd love nothing more than to silence Rush, Hannity, Bennett, Laura, and the rest of them. And since the talk radio crowd hasn't been willing to stand idly by as more members of the GOP back the immigration/amnesty bill, they'd like to shut them up too (Trent Lott). The fairness doctrine is just the Beltway elite lashing out in frustration and trying to muzzle the opposition - it is in essence un-American!