Senate Nixes Fairness Doctrine Revival
The Senate overwhelmingly put itself on record Thursday against any revival of the defunct “Fairness Doctrine,” designed to require public broadcasters to air “balanced” coverage of controversial issues.
Conservatives have worried that the Obama administration and congressional Democrats were plotting to revive the policy, dropped in the last years of the Reagan administration, as a means of curtailing talk radio and other media dominated by right-of-center broadcasters.
The 87-11 vote came on an amendment to the bill that would give the District of Columbia full voting rights in the House of Representatives. It was offered by Sen. Jim DeMint, South Carolina Republican.
The Federal Communications Commission first issued the rule mandating balanced coverage, but stopped enforcing it in 1987 after concluding that the explosion of news outlets and sources of information on public issues made the doctrine obsolete.
A spokesman for Mr. Obama last week said the president had no intention of reviving the Fairness Doctrine, but several of his aides had discussed the idea of reviving it at least in modified form. Mr. DeMint argued that his amendment was needed to guarantee that the FCC would not attempt to revive quotas or guidelines on programming.
Republicans and conservative broadcasters both said they feared the new administration was considering a renewal of aspects of the Fairness Doctrine to boost liberal media outlets.
Top-rated radio host Rush Limbaugh said recently he did not put much stock in Mr. Obama’s declaration.
“Of course they’re not going to bring back the ‘Fairness Doctrine.’ They’re going to call it something else,” he said.
The D.C. voting rights bill still must go to the House of Representatives, and it was not certain the FCC amendment would survive. But Mr. DeMint said the vote would put the Senate on record as strongly opposing any effort to resuscitate the doctrine. A majority of Democrats joined all of the Senate’s Republicans in backing Mr. DeMint’s amendment.
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But they passed the Durbin amendment which states ” To encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership, and to ensure that the public airwaves are used in the public interest”. Sounds like the fairness doctrine to me .
Localism and diversity are going to be the terms and issues of choice in their destruction of these, talk radio and the web, last remnants of free speech.
It’s official.
The Civil War is on.
They passed a bill that will silence conservative speech with a whimper. They knew there would be heavy turmoil if they passed the old bill, so they slid this thing in thinking we are stupid and will not rise up.
This one does it for me. Curtail political speech in any way and the WAR IS ON! I don’t know what to do first, but I’ll start tomorrow morning at a tea party in LA. After that, maybe we can get together.
Public airways are not public e=interest properties. They are owned by their owners not the Fed. What drives radio is the market. It has nothing to do with signal or marketing.
People listen to and buy whatever they want to buy.
The Dhimis want to dominate radio like they do every other form of media. Which would be the end of talk radio as we know it.
The reason Bill Press and Debbie Sabashit’s husband are out of work, is because they suck. Same for Randi Rhodes.
If any of them were good at radio, people would listen more and the market would support them.
So like all good Lenninists, the only way that Dhimis can win is by legislative or judicial fiat.
I also heard some Dhimis on several radio programs saying that they like talk radio just the way it is and to leave it alone. They got their NPR and assorted goof balls and we got everyone else.
Hannity and Plante debate libs and give them plenty of air time. Of course Barry and his cadre of ball-lickers never bother to mention that in their speeches.
This is not limited to the radio, they are going after the internet as well and Christian radio.
Im so fed up, this is not my America!
Like many American families My family has paid it forward in defending this country and our freedoms.
Every man in my family for generations have served this country in honor and have sacrificed their lives.
I am so angry to see the anti American marxist POS destroy her. The growing numbers of immigrants coming here voting to “change” this country who have had no stake in building this country and defending freedom but only look to exploit her, as a cash cow looking for handouts. Not realizing they are turning this country like the ones they couldnt wait to get out of.
Im sick of the youth that have been brainwashed to hate this country and expect intitlements.
Im sick of the liberal marxist destroying this country just to have power over it.
Obongo talks about having “skin in the game” well our military have had the most skin in the game and are getting stabbed in the backs by their own government having their funding cut drastically. This admin has never had skin in the game.
Im so disgusted and angry I cant stand it anymore.
[...] to this effect during the campaign, and another statement was issued after the inauguration. The US Senate voted 87-11 to oppose the return of the Fairness Doctrine. One wonders where Mr. Boone got the idea that BHO [...]