i keep hearing about this "fairness doctrine" who wrote it(name not party)?

Question

i have a feeling it is like the bill put forth in wisconsin last year allowing teachers to carry hand guns

the only guy who liked it was the guy who wrote it

why do i keep hearing about it?
has rush and bill o' run out of things to say?

Answer 1

Rep. Luther Johnson (D.-Texas) in 1927. In a debate that preceded the Radio Act of 1927, he said:

"American thought and American politics will be largely at the mercy of those who operate these stations, for publicity is the most powerful weapon that can be wielded in a republic. And when such a weapon is placed in the hands of one person, or a single selfish group is permitted to either tacitly or otherwise acquire ownership or dominate these broadcasting stations throughout the country, then woe be to those who dare to differ with them. It will be impossible to compete with them in reaching the ears of the American people."

In the Radio Act of 1927, Congress mandated the FCC’s forerunner, the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), to grant broadcasting licenses in such a manner as to ensure that licensees served the “public convenience, interest or necessity.”

As former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson pointed out (California Lawyer, 8/88), it was in that spirit that the FRC, in 1928, first gave words to a policy formulation that would become known as the Fairness Doctrine, calling for broadcasters to show “due regard for the opinions of others.” In 1949, the FCC adopted the doctrine as a formal rule (FCC, Report on Editorializing by Broadcast Licensees, 1949).

Answer 2

The Fairness Doctrine was a United States FCC regulation requiring broadcast licensees to present controversial issues of public importance in an honest, equitable and balanced manner. The doctrine has since been withdrawn by the FCC.

The Fairness Doctrine was introduced in the US in 1949. The doctrine remained a matter of general policy, and was applied on a case-by-case basis until 1967, when certain provisions of the doctrine were incorporated into FCC regulations. [2]

Under FCC Chairman Mark S. Fowler, a communications attorney who had served on Ronald Reagan's campaign staff in 1976 and 1980, and who once equated television to a "toaster with pictures," the commission began to repeal parts of the Fairness Doctrine, announcing in 1985 that the doctrine hurt the public interest and violated the First Amendment.

Answer 3

The fairness doctrine was removed during Reagan's time. Despite all the hysteria about it there is no bill before the house or senate to reinstate it.
It is a non-issue.