The Fairness BS

"I have a straightforward question, medications which I hope you will answer in a

straightforward way: Is it your intention to censor talk radio through

a variety of contrivances, website like this such as "local content, ailment " "diversity of

ownership," and "public interest" rules — all of which are designed to

appeal to populist sentiments but, as you know, are the death knell of

talk radio and the AM band?

You have singled me out directly, admonishing members of Congress

not to listen to my show. Bill Clinton has since chimed in, complaining

about the lack of balance on radio. And a number of members of your

party, in and out of Congress, are forming a chorus of advocates for

government control over radio content. This is both chilling and

ominous."
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After the Federal Communications Commission abandoned the Fairness

Doctrine in the mid-1980s, Congress passed legislation to reinstitute

it. When President Reagan vetoed it, he declared that "This doctrine .

. . requires Federal officials to supervise the editorial practices of

broadcasters in an effort to ensure that they provide coverage of

controversial issues and a reasonable opportunity for the airing of

contrasting viewpoints of those issues. This type of content-based

regulation by the Federal Government is . . . antagonistic to the

freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. . . . History

has shown that the dangers of an overly timid or biased press cannot be

averted through bureaucratic regulation, but only through the freedom

and competition that the First Amendment sought to guarantee."

Read full transcript @ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123508978035028163.html