HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Keep the Airwaves Free of the Fairness Doctrine

Leading Democrats are pushing to restore the “Fairness Doctrine” - an antiquated idea which would effectively silence critics of the government. This blatant attempt to quash those who disagree with the Democrats should offend all who cherish their First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech. The right to speak one’s mind is diminished - and effectively silenced - if it cannot find a voice on the radio, television, or the internet.

The American people should not have to get approval from bureaucrats in Washington before they speak their mind on any given issue. Republicans in the Congress agree with that sentiment - and have taken to heart Voltaire’s famous declaration (”I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”) by introducing the Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009.

The bill, introduced January 7, 2009, by Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), chairman of the House Republican Conference, Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR), Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, and Senator John Thune (R-SD), Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, which would suppress free speech by requiring the government to monitor political views and decide what constitutes fair political discourse. The Pence-Walden bill in the House already has over 100 cosponsors including Republican Leader Boehner.

Congressman Pence’s Press Release on Jan. 7th noted:

The Fairness Doctrine was implemented by the FCC in 1949 in an attempt to ensure balanced and fair coverage of controversial subject matter by broadcasters. In 1985, the FCC determined that the Fairness Doctrine was no longer necessary due to the emergence of a “multiplicity of voices in the marketplace.” The FCC was also of the view that the Fairness Doctrine may have violated the First Amendment. In a 1987 case, the courts declared that the doctrine was not mandated by Congress and the FCC did not have to continue to enforce it. Twice, Congress has passed legislation restoring the Fairness Doctrine, but Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush vetoed the bills.

The irony of those who advocate the return of the Fairness Doctrine is that there are more sources of news and opinion - from more points of view - today than ever before. Perhaps, in an era when Americans relied one or two sources, primarily newspapers and the three broadcast networks, for news and information, a case that that information should be regulated for “equal time” could be made. Today, however, the amount of information available is simply astounding and gives Americans more options than ever before. City Journal noted in a Spring 2007 article:

 According to FCC data and various private reports, America boasts close to 14,000 radio stations today, double the number that existed in 1970. Satellite radio-an industry that didn’t even exist before 2001-claimed roughly 13 million subscribers nationwide by 2007. Eighty-six percent of households subscribe to cable or satellite TV today, receiving an average of 102 channels of the more than 500 available to them. There were 18,267 magazines produced in 2005, up from 14,302 in 1993…

Throw the Internet into the mix and you get dizzy. The Internet Systems Consortium reports that the number of Internet host computers-computers or servers that allow people to post content on the Web-has grown from just 235 in 1982 to 1.3 million in 1993 to roughly 400 million in 2006. At the beginning of 2007, the blog-tracking service Technorati counted over 66 million blogs, with more than 175,000 new ones created daily. Bloggers update their sites “to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second,” according to Technorati…

There are few rights more precious to Americans than freedom of speech. We will vigorously defend that right, and we urge the 111th Congress to adopt the Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009 without delay.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 4:00 pm and is filed under fairness doctrine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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