Are liberals trying to undermine free speech with the Fairness Doctrine?

Question

Liberals hate the Conservative talk radio speaking their mind and people liking it. If I want to say 2+2=6, then that is my right to spout it, on TV, Radio, In the streets!

Answer 1

Basically, yes.

The fairness doctrine was developed in the 1940s and 1950s, when there was a very limited set of media outlets, and all broadcast information was controlled by very few sources. So, to prevent the kind of bias we regularly see nowadays, the govt stepped in to protect those broadcast airwaves.

Nowadays, with the wide array of different and independent information sources, the idea of needing govt enforced balancing of content is obsolete.

Most people (liberals and otherwise) understand this. A few, mostly politicians, just want to be able to control content.

Answer 2

We can try out the fairness doctrine right now. PBS needs some right wing balance and it is government financed. I'm tired of hearing every morning the words "a former Clinton official had this to say" over and over again. Lets give Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin a couple of one hour shows.

Let me explain Grey Wolf; radio is a profit oriented enterprise. They want to make money off their advertisers and their advertisers want people to listen to their commercials. There are only 24 hours in a day. Your average show is 3 hours. That allows you, on average, 8 shows a day. Lets use the big boy, Rush Limbaugh. Someone complains to the FCC about his content. The radio station has two choices presented to them; balance Rush Limbaugh with a liberal or cancel Rush Limbaugh and take away the cause for the action. This is where censorship starts. The station is in a hard place, cancel Rush and lose his viewers or risk a lawsuit. Anything that anyone says could be contested by anyone for any reason. The best thing for radio stations to do would be to cancel all talk shows. Why stop at radio, why not television?

Answer 3

I don't know what the Fairness Doctrine is... I guess I'm "out of the loop" when it comes to stuff like that.

I am not a liberal. I am not a conservative, either. I think both sides need to extract their heads from their anal cavities.

Though I despise most political talk radio shows (liberal and conservative alike), I would certainly defend their right to exist. People have every right to be as stupid and ignorant as they want to be, and to spout it out in public. Just so long as it is understood that they are OPINIONS, and that none of their bull is taught in schools as proven fact.

I think Rush Limbaugh is an idiot. I also think Jesse Jackson is an idiot. However, the government should not pass any laws prohibiting either one of them from speaking publicly, on radio, on television, etc. The freedom of speech is fundamental, an integral part of the liberty we cherish in the U.S. Take that away, and we might as well be living in Iraq, or communist China, or North Korea, or Afghanistan, etc.

Answer 4

Fairness is a matter of the truth. I support telling the truth. I never watch any TV, it's all Conservative propaganda. Try PBS and NPR on AM Radio. You may learn the truth. I do not hate Rush, I just have no respect for liars like Coulter, Rush, Bush and Cheney..

Answer 5

Of course they are.

Their motto is "I may not agree with what you say, so I shall fight to the death to keep others from hearing it".

Hey Checkers, if the Fairness Doctrine is so great, how come there's not one for tv? Like for everytime Rosie goes off on 9/11 conspiracy theories they have a guy from Popular Mechanics setting her straight? This hasn't nothing to do with "fairness" it's all about controlling the media. Deal with it.

Answer 6

I an not necessarily a supporter of the "Fairness Doctrine" but I do not see how it would undermine free speech. Could you explain?

Answer 7

It's amazing how right-wing trolls and their hosts love to pontificate, isn't it? Unfortunately for them, they only prove my points. One of them offers: "...MSNBC, CNN are losing their audience in greater numbers, while Fox, Hannity or Rush Limbaugh numbers are increasing. ..." Unfortunately, the argument is not only lacking in facts, but illustrates why the Fairness Doctrine is important. For instance, Fox "News" ranted on, as did Rush and Ken doll Sean, about WMDs in Iraq, as well as every other lie put forth by the Bush administration, reaching millions of listeners and viewers, while also slandering the U.N. weapons inspectors, who just happened to be right. If you add political Christian broadcasting to this toxic mix, you get a monopoly that is dangerous. Progressives didn't get on Armed Forces radio until late in 2005, but even then Ed Schultz was threatened with cancellation before he even debuted, because he criticized someone in the Bush administration. This isn't championing free speech. It is patently unfair practice. It also illustrates the tilted news our military is getting. That, too, is dangerous.

Right-wing radio offers propaganda, not facts, with the intent to play on the listeners emotions, without offering content that is based in reality. The ratings prove that FNC, Fox "News" channel is losing out in the ratings. In addition, the ignorance of conservatives about media and radio is further shown when they say the Fairness Doctrine is about "...demanding that the government implement further control or regulation over an entire industry, it might be simpler to look in the mirror, at the rating points & ad revenues & realize that the market for the “progressive” or liberal slant isn’t as popular or pervasive as you assume it to be. ... Again, they miss the point. Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller, as well as the leader in progressive talk, Randi Rhodes, are making it in the commercial market. They are not only popular, but growing. The issue is to allow more progressive hosts on local am/fm radio to see if we can also make it. Unless you've been in the battle for radio you don't know what it's like, with conservative corporations not even giving progressives a chance to get on air, or cancelling good hosts before they have the time to prove themselves. You have to give progressive hosts a chance to build an audience, which takes time. But conservatives do not want fairness, which can be seen through their trade policy, as well as their anti-union rhetoric, which has decimated the middle class, by selling out workers for outsourcing all in the name of profit. They want a one-way talking machine on radio, paid by and benefiting only their political partners in business, as well.
Right-wing is on the air and getting advertisers because they're the only game in town, except for a few progressive hosts like Schultz, Miller and Rhodes. The Fairness Doctrine will not keep a bad show on, but it will allow entry to good hosts who are now being shut out by conservative conglomerates
The short version of the Fairness Doctrine is that in 1987 Reagan had it scuttled. Shortly after that Rush Limbaugh began his journey and right-wing radio was created and gradually took over the airwaves, with the help of their corporate friends. The Fairness Doctrine could really make a difference. Why do you think conservatives are screaming like crazy?

Answer 8

Conservatives hate & complain about 'liberal mainstream media'. Liberal don't accuse conservatives of trying to eat away freedom. Just complain conservatives are wrong.

This is such a cliche. Conservatives calling everybody unpatriotic, accusing everybody that they're undermining freedom whenever someone argue against them.

Answer 9

Of course.

The first thing that Communists, Socialists, Marxists, and Fascists do when they begin to take over a Country, is to "Shut Down The Voice of the People"!!!!

Talk Radio is the Voice of the Working People. It must be stopped in order for the Communists/Fascists to Rule.

Answer 10

Have they not given up on this yet, talk hosts are not to keen on the aspect of a democrat being allowed to defend themselves, can you imagine how humiliating it would be for someone like Hillary to have to explain why white house security cameras have footage of her stealing toilet paper, its alot easier for her to deny it without Rush L. calling you a liar on the air.