More Fairness Doctrine talk

Following a comment from Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) about bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, Brent Littlefield wrote this piece in Pajamas Media.

Battle Lines Being Drawn in Fight Over Fairness Doctrine

Why do they say it’s needed? They claim the federal government must ensure local stations fully cover local news and topics of the day. However, those promoting the new Fairness Doctrine come from the politically correct left, which is incensed that conservative-minded talk show hosts have large ratings, large audiences, and big paychecks.

Liberal activists want the federal government to determine if a station is balanced and providing politically correct programming in our neighborhoods. Just imagine, if you will, a federal bureaucrat hops on a plane and travels from Washington to a local rural radio station. That bureaucrat then walks in to tell a station manager what to put on the air.

Yes, Virginia, they would be coming from the government and they would only be there to help. Or so the activists promoting the Fairness Doctrine want you to believe.

WPKN had a big internal quarrel over fairness doctrine principles regarding their "right to respond/personal commentary disclaimer" a few years ago, and it was the station's "progressive activists" who were against it. The guideline for the left seems to be "free speech for me, but none for thee."

Technorati tags: WPKN, fairness doctrine

Schumer talks Fairness Doctrine

The polls haven't even closed yet, but Chuck Schumer is already talking about reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday defended the so-called Fairness Doctrine in an interview on Fox News, saying, “I think we should all be fair and balanced, don’t you?”

Schumer’s comments echo other Democrats’ views on reviving the Fairness Doctrine, which would require radio stations to balance conservative hosts with liberal ones.

The Fairness Doctrine was one enshrined in WPKN's Constitution, even long after is ceased to be law. A few years ago there was a long, bitter struggle within WPKN over the station's personal commentary disclaimer. The station's leftist producers found it inconvenient to disclose that the content of their programs did not reflect the views of WPKN or its licensee and invite listener response. The commentary disclaimer/response invitation was eventually relegated to weekday evenings around 6:30, appropriately following the left-slanted Free Speech Radio News.

If the Fairness Doctrine once again becomes law due to Democratic control of Congress, the squealing from WPKN's news & public affairs producers should be very entertaining.

Technorati tags: WPKN, Fairness Doctrine