[PREV - FREE_SPEECH]    [TOP]

THE_DOCTRINE_FAIR

                                             February 18, 2021


In the days when broadcast television ruled
the collective consciousness, it was argued         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine
that since they were using a publically
owned and managed resource-- the
electromagnetic communications spectrum--
they didn't deserve to invoke any right to      With cable television came an
free speech, and instead the FCC imposed        increase in the number of
"The Fairness Doctrine", and "the equal-time    communication channels, and
rule", and the networks all more-or-less        since they were no longer so
walked carefully, keeping their messaging       scarce-- and since the
toned-down with an eye toward Responsible       right-wing "free market"
Journalism.                                     libertarians of the Reagan era
                                                hated government involvement
   How was this enforced?                       with anything-- the Fairness
                                                Doctrine was dropped in 1987.
   "Voluntary compliance".
   Or else.                                     In 1988 Rush Limbaugh broke
                                                out of the local Sacramento
                                                market and moved to a New
      I grew up during this era, and            York station, and was on
      I didn't think very much of               his way to world domination.
      these rules at the time.
      Television news programming               Fox News was founded in 1996.
      struck me as very bland and
      uninteresting, and I spent                       (The same year as
      much of my time listening to                      "Democracy Now".)
      WBAI, the left-wing Pacifica
      News station in New York.

             One of my many gripes: "equal time"
             applied just to the two big parties,
             screening out independents and third
             parties from any serious attention.

      You occasionally get people
      looking at the present-day state
      of the country and fantasizing
      about a return to the days of
      the Fairness Doctrine.

      I won't say it can't be done, but
      it would need a radically different    Note though, this is an
      rationale, given the explosion of      explosion of *channels*
      channels of information available      not of actual sources of
      on the internet.                       information.  There
                                             are a handful of actual
                                             news agencies out there,
                                             most of the things you
                                             see on the net are just
                                             echoes of them.




  The kids seem to feel like The Solution is
  to harass the big companies via Twitter
  until they all decide to ban the bad guys.

  I'm a bit skeptical of that one.

                          FREE_SPEECH



--------
[NEXT - FUTURE_SPEECH]