Hobbit
Senior Member
In 1949, a travesty against our right to free speech was passed into law. This travesty was called "The Fairness Doctrine," but it was about as fair as marked cards or Barry Bonds' "vitamins." Common conservative outlets, such as radio, were required to give equal time to both sides of any issue, no matter what. This effectively killed any voices heard on those media. Now, TV news and newspaper editorial pages were exempt from these laws, and so, for nearly 40 years, television and news print, which are dominated by liberal thinking, had a monopoly on opinion. When Walter Cronkite claimed there was no way to win in Vietnam, Rush Limbaugh was not there to tell the public what a dirty liar he was and how North Vietnam had been rendered practically defenseless after Tet '68, and that a troop of Boy Scouts could have conquored Hanoi. When Fonda gave aid and comfort to our enemies, the fallout was bad enough, but she was never forced to suffer the consequences of those actions because nobody in the media would call what she did treason. All of this is compounded with the fact that it was a gross violation of free speech laws that was justified by congress claiming to own the airwaves.
In 1987, Ronald Reagan signed a bill that ended the fairness doctrine, restoring free speech to all media, and the conservative revolution picked up steam. In 1988, Rush Limbaugh began his radio program, and in 1994, Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America," a message carried largely by conservative talk radio, carried the Republicans into congressional power for the first time in decades.
With the First Ammendment, rather than a Democratic congress, dictating what could and could not be said on the air, conservative media thrived. Talk show hosts such as Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Boortz, Savage, Reagan, and others dominated the AM airwaves, gaining larger audiences than many TV shows, and certainly bigger than any TV news shows. With conservative ideas gaining momentum, the conservative agenda was actually getting achieved without a Republican president, and with the explosion of the internet in 1996, any idiot with a computer and a phone liine could challenge the views of a-list celebrities in a forum accessable to anybody with a computer and a phone line, and with the forming of Fox News, even their television monopoly was no longer safe.
This didn't sit well with Democrats, who had enjoyed a monopoly in the realm of news for too long and now found themselves out of power and out of favor. In 2000, the closest presidential race since Kennedy/Nixon resulted in a Republican controlled government, with all branches but the judicial (which is supposed to remain partyless) held by Republicans. However, all was not well with conservatives. Amidst whining, obstruction, and corruption, Republicans caved more and more to liberal ideals and abandoned those who put them into office. They became impotent, lazy, and spineless. Thus, this year, they are out of power for the first time in 12 years, with a Democrat controlled congress and a president who seems to be abandoning all things conservative.
Now that they're back in power, Democrats remember what ground their plan for a socialist nanny state to a screeching halt back in 1994, and they want to make sure that never happens again. Thus, after the First Ammendment is actually allowed to rule the airwaves for 20 years, the Democrats are trying to revive the Fairness Doctrine. It will not apply to editorial pages of newspapers. Slanted reporting on national news will not change. Only talk radio, a medium that liberals have tried and failed in, will be affected by this travesty, and the likes of Limbaugh and Hannity will have to either hang up their microphones or turn to sattelite radio, because without being allowed to fully express their opinions, talk radio will no longer be worth listening to.
Newspaper editors and tv news commentators claim to be objective, though their reporting is clearly slanted towards the left and is often doctored to make the president look bad, and over 90% of them contribute money to the Democratic National Committee. Conservative commentators, on the other hand, make no secret of their political bends and often encourage listeners to take what they say with a grain of salt. Conservative reporters also try to seperate what is fact from what is conjecture and Fox News tries to put the two together so their viewers can see it from both sides.
And may I also remind you that not even in the depths of the Fairness Doctrine's enforced liberal monopoly, has any prominent conservative ever even seriously suggested attempting to forcefully silence liberals, while liberals seem to want nothing more than for Limbaugh and Hannity to be hauled off in cuffs.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/..._doctrine_unevening_the_playing_field,_by_law
In 1987, Ronald Reagan signed a bill that ended the fairness doctrine, restoring free speech to all media, and the conservative revolution picked up steam. In 1988, Rush Limbaugh began his radio program, and in 1994, Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America," a message carried largely by conservative talk radio, carried the Republicans into congressional power for the first time in decades.
With the First Ammendment, rather than a Democratic congress, dictating what could and could not be said on the air, conservative media thrived. Talk show hosts such as Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Boortz, Savage, Reagan, and others dominated the AM airwaves, gaining larger audiences than many TV shows, and certainly bigger than any TV news shows. With conservative ideas gaining momentum, the conservative agenda was actually getting achieved without a Republican president, and with the explosion of the internet in 1996, any idiot with a computer and a phone liine could challenge the views of a-list celebrities in a forum accessable to anybody with a computer and a phone line, and with the forming of Fox News, even their television monopoly was no longer safe.
This didn't sit well with Democrats, who had enjoyed a monopoly in the realm of news for too long and now found themselves out of power and out of favor. In 2000, the closest presidential race since Kennedy/Nixon resulted in a Republican controlled government, with all branches but the judicial (which is supposed to remain partyless) held by Republicans. However, all was not well with conservatives. Amidst whining, obstruction, and corruption, Republicans caved more and more to liberal ideals and abandoned those who put them into office. They became impotent, lazy, and spineless. Thus, this year, they are out of power for the first time in 12 years, with a Democrat controlled congress and a president who seems to be abandoning all things conservative.
Now that they're back in power, Democrats remember what ground their plan for a socialist nanny state to a screeching halt back in 1994, and they want to make sure that never happens again. Thus, after the First Ammendment is actually allowed to rule the airwaves for 20 years, the Democrats are trying to revive the Fairness Doctrine. It will not apply to editorial pages of newspapers. Slanted reporting on national news will not change. Only talk radio, a medium that liberals have tried and failed in, will be affected by this travesty, and the likes of Limbaugh and Hannity will have to either hang up their microphones or turn to sattelite radio, because without being allowed to fully express their opinions, talk radio will no longer be worth listening to.
Newspaper editors and tv news commentators claim to be objective, though their reporting is clearly slanted towards the left and is often doctored to make the president look bad, and over 90% of them contribute money to the Democratic National Committee. Conservative commentators, on the other hand, make no secret of their political bends and often encourage listeners to take what they say with a grain of salt. Conservative reporters also try to seperate what is fact from what is conjecture and Fox News tries to put the two together so their viewers can see it from both sides.
And may I also remind you that not even in the depths of the Fairness Doctrine's enforced liberal monopoly, has any prominent conservative ever even seriously suggested attempting to forcefully silence liberals, while liberals seem to want nothing more than for Limbaugh and Hannity to be hauled off in cuffs.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/..._doctrine_unevening_the_playing_field,_by_law
