Many of today’s conservatives probably don’t remember the
Fairness Doctrine. Many in the political world today never lived under it since
it was repealed 30 years ago in 1987. If it still existed, the world of
political talk radio would never have come into being. So why would President
Trump want to bring it back?
In a series of tweets on Saturday morning, President Trump
once again attacked the media, which is not unusual, but in two tweets he raised
the question of whether the Administration should get “equal time.” In the
first tweet,
Trump said, “Late Night host are dealing with the Democrats for their very ‘unfunny’
& repetitive material, always anti-Trump! Should we get Equal Time?”
A few minutes later, in a second tweet,
he said, “More and more people are suggesting that Republicans (and me) should
be given Equal Time on T.V. when you look at the one-sided coverage?”
Equal time is essentially what the Fairness Doctrine was
about. The Fairness Doctrine was implemented by the FCC under the Radio Act of
1927. In 1949, the FCC interpreted the law to mean that radio and television
stations must provide contrasting views on issues of public importance and that,
if a public personality was attacked on the air, they had to be given an opportunity
to answer.
The policy was upheld in 1969 by the Supreme Court in Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC. In a
unanimous decision, the Court ruled that the Fairness Doctrine did not violate
the First Amendment and upheld the FCC rule that the subject of a personal
on-air attack must be provided with a tape, transcript or summary as well as an
opportunity to respond regardless of ability to pay for air time. In 1987, the
FCC panel repealed the Fairness Doctrine with a 4-0 vote.
When Barack Obama took office in 2009, conservatives
such as Rush Limbaugh feared that the new administration would reinstitute the
Fairness Doctrine. Instead, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski killed
the policy permanently in 2011.
Now President Trump’s tweets seem to indicate that the
president would like a new version of the Fairness Doctrine. Although Republican
politicians do not seem to be lining up to support the president’s call for “equal
time,” many of the president’s supporters vocally support the idea on social
media.
Although it survived an encounter with the Supreme Court,
the Fairness Doctrine has traditionally been viewed as an assault
on the First Amendment by conservatives. It is difficult to imagine how
conservative talk radio would survive if stations had to provide equal time to the
liberal targets of conservative talkers every day. Advertising revenue would be
lost and listeners driven away as Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth
Warren and others got their equal time every day. It is no coincidence that The Rush Limbaugh Show premiered in
1988, the year after the Fairness Doctrine was repealed, kicking off the golden
age of political talk radio.
The intention of the Fairness Doctrine was to protect free
speech, but, as government regulations so often do, it had the opposite effect.
Free speech blossomed with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine where before,
the Big Three networks had an effective monopoly on news and political
commentary.
There is no shortage of news outlets who present the
conservative side of stories. Even among the mainstream media there are the
Wall Street Journal, the most successful newspaper in the country, the
Washington Times and Fox News, to name just a few. There are many more
conservative voices in the alternative media and blogosphere.
The traditional conservative answer to a problem with a free
speech problem has been to call for more speech. It is troubling that Mr. Trump’s
instincts are to call for more government oversight of speech and limitations
on the First Amendment.
Originally published
on The Resurgent
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