I Am Not Sold On The So-Called Fairness Doctrine

All this talk of the so-called Fairness Doctrine has left me almost to the point of scratching my head. It is funny to listen to Republicans whining about the bias of alleged “liberal mainstream media” while saying nothing about the lack of balance in talk radio syndicated in small and large communities all across the country. Now, some Democrats have been complaining about heavy conservative presence on talk radio (individuals bombarded by names like Hannity, O’Reilly, Cunningham, Savage, Ingraham and others). Now that is mind torture. Those truly are weapons of mass intellectual destruction. The same conservatives who whine endlessly about the mainstream media (I can still hear Sarah Palin’s voice ringing in my ears) bend over backward to protect conservative talk radio. I guess it’s all in how you see it.

Here is an excerpt from a Detroit News story:
The impact of the Fairness Doctrine would be to drive the Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannitys, Bill O’Reillys and Frank Beckmanns off the air. Few stations can afford to devote hours to unprofitable liberal programming just to keep the conservative shows on the air.

Maybe liberal programming would not be profitable and maybe it would. But, what if the so-called mainstream media used the same argument when people claim it to be biased against the right? What if the cable networks that righties whine have become to liberal said that we can’t afford to diversify because it just isn’t profitable for them to have too much conservative talk on? I think this Fairness Doctrine think needs to be put away and responsible radio stations should do a better job of displaying integrity and some degree of balance in their politically-angled programming. In many small towns, people are held hostage if they are limited in the amount of radio stations they can hear. Radio stations and police station need to police themselves. But, in many ways, it would be like telling prisoners to police themselves in prison.

Detroit News:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090215/OPINION03/902150307