First, they came for talk radio ….
November 16, 2008If Democrats end up with a veto-proof and filibuster-proof majorities, there’s a good chance they could succeed in re-establishing the fairness doctrine. I discussed the possibility at my other site. But James Fish of the Constitutional Matters Project had this to add:
This would be the end of political talk and opinion shows over broadcast media. That would be tragic, however, it could get worse. Presently Washington cannot regulate cable and Internet content. There is nothing to prevent the government from declaring cable and Internet are “Interstate Commerce†and subject them to the same rules as broadcast. If the Supreme Court were to declare this takeover “Constitutional†it will be the death knell for “Free Speech†and no democracy can exist without it.
One would hope there are at least a handful of Democrats who would put the breaks on this.
Tags: Fairness Doctrine
November 25th, 2008 at 8:08 am
This is NOT going to happen. Stop worrying about it. Here’s a prediction for ya, Billy: In 20 years, what’s left of the right wing will be the one discussing whether or not to bring the “fairness doctrine” back.
November 25th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Billy, broadcast media (traditional tv and radio) use public airwaves. The whole basis for the Fairness Doctrine is that the public owns the transmission formats on which the political speech is distributed. Since the public owns the airwaves, all relevant positions held by the public should in theory be given access to the airwaves they own.
Given that, cable and the Internet are more akin to newspapers and magazine. Newspapers and magazines use private paper to distribute their information, while cable and the Internet use private wires and cables for distribution.
And BJ is right – ain’t gonna happen. Sen. Durbin, the guy who is constantly vilified by conservative-partisans because of a single sentence in one news article, has already said he’s not interested in pursuing the Fairness Doctrine and Pres.-elect Obama has said he’s not interested in bringing it back either.