Reagan Rolls Over In His Grave As Democrats Debate Fairness Doctrine

Michelle Barreto — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:03:06 +0000

The internet and talk radio are in danger of increased government regulation, a national pollster and former radio host said yesterday at a forum held by the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Bestselling author Brad O’Leary said Americans should be wary of radio and internet regulations because they tend to disadvantage the conservative media.

“Bills being introduced into Congress will bring a fairness doctrine to the internet,” he said.

Repealed during the Reagan Administration, the fairness doctrine was a Federal Communications Commission policy that required broadcasters to present both sides of every issue.

O’Leary said that talk radio and the internet are the only way for conservatives to express themselves. Conservatives, O’Leary believes, would be unfairly disadvantaged by the re-implementation of the fairness doctrine.

“Newspapers and the news country are completely biased,” O’Leary said. “Obama could count on wonderful press and glowing stories during the election. He could not count on that with talk radio or the internet.”

But some Democrats in Congress want to re-regulate the airwaves.

“I think it’s absolutely time to pass a standard, whether its called the fairness doctrine or something else, but it’s time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said in an February interview. “I have already had some discussions with colleagues.”

Other legislation being considered could force talk radio to feature more local coverage and diversify their ownership.

President Obama has said he does not support a renewal of the fairness doctrine, but he does support other measures to increase the number of viewpoints on the air.

“Obama supports media-ownership caps, network neutrality, public broadcasting, as well as increasing minority ownership of broadcasting and print outlets,” said Obama’s former campaign press secretary Michael Ortiz.

O’Leary said new regulation would violate the free speech clause of the First Amendment. He also said the FCC might not renew the licenses of broadcasts that were considered not diverse enough.

“They believe talk radio does not belong to the people, it belongs to the government,” O’Leary said.

The Broadcast Freedom Act, which would have forbidden the FCC from establishing a fairness doctrine, was blocked in 2007.

In 2009, it was added to the bill to give the District of Columbia a representative in Congress.

“The press that uses air and electrons, should be and must be as free from government control as the press that uses paper and ink,” former FCC Chairman Mark Fowler said in a February interview with radio talk-show host Mark Levin.