Defending our free speech rights.
Liberals lawmakers again would like to exhume the obsolete Fairness Doctrine. It dates to 1949 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required broadcasters to air contrasting points of view on controversial issues. It was repealed in 1987 during the Reagan administration, after the commission concluded that the rule was actually stifling, rather than fostering, coverage of hot issues.
And history proved the FCC right. The years following repeal saw the birth of modern talk radio, a phenomenon that brings brash public debate into the homes of America daily.
Not all have been pleased with this development. The greatest successes in talk radio have been unapologetically conservative voices. And that has made talk radio made a thorn in the side of the left.
Not surprising, then, that almost immediately after liberals regained power in Congress, some began calling for the restoration of the long-dead Fairness Doctrine. So far these efforts have been unsuccessful.
We need to oppose all attempts to bring back the Fairness Doctrine, or to control the content of political speech in any other way. The kind of robust debate that our Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the Constitution – indeed, the kind of debate that led to the founding of this nation – can't be hemmed in with parliamentary demands that we carefully include “the other side” every time we speak. Like it or not, democracy is messy.
http://www.myheritage.org/issues/speech.htmlp.s great site. covers many important topics on the left column. Sean Hannity always mentions this site.
Topic: Has anyone else lost interrest in talk radio? (Read 1678 times)