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Fairness doctrine not the fairest
Dangerous potential changes to the radio industry
By Chris Walker
Reinstating this doctrine would be a disaster. It would mean trying to find opposing viewpoints for every radio program that is out there right now.
This may come as a surprise (since I write about liberal causes and ideas week-in and week-out), but the fact of the matter is, despite it being detrimental to gaining a liberal voice in the medium of radio, I do not support the Fairness Doctrine.
For those of you who don’t know what this is, here’s a brief history. The Fairness Doctrine was created in 1949 by the federal government and upheld by the Supreme Court in 1969, and essentially calls for a balance within media in regards to political content.
For example, under the Fairness Doctrine, an hour-long talk show by a Republican-inclined host would have to be complemented by an hour-long show by a Democratic-inclined host. This doctrine also required presenting viewpoints that were out of the mainstream for most of America, giving them an equal voice when they otherwise wouldn’t have one.
In the 1980s, however, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began to withdraw its strong stance on upholding the doctrine, and abandoned it completely in 1987. The repealing of the Fairness Doctrine came just in time for Rush Limbaugh, the outspoken and often controversial conservative talk-show host. Without the doctrine in place, radio stations could syndicate his program without having to worry about presenting an opposing viewpoint.
As Limbaugh’s popularity soared, conservative radio hosts began to come onto the airwaves by the hundreds, resulting in the right-wing domination we see on the radio today.
So why would I, a left-leaning, ACLU-card carrying liberal, be opposed to reinstating the doctrine that required equal political representation on the radio? The answer is somewhat complicated and involves market principles that govern radio stations.
Suppose you own a radio station, but you are dictated by the rules of the Fairness Doctrine. You’d like to add to your programming schedule a popular radio program that is heard by thousands of Americans daily; the show also happens to be politically conservative.
This is perfect for your listeners, as you have researched their demographics, and for the most part conservatives listen to you. However, under the Fairness Doctrine, you’d have to present a liberal viewpoint, effectively pushing your core audience away from your station. What do you do? For many radio station owners, the answer to this solution is simple: Don’t broadcast either program. If broadcasting one program means broadcasting another that may turn listeners away, then it’s not economically feasible to broadcast the original program.
For that reason, the Fairness Doctrine diminished free speech and political discourse.
Reinstating this doctrine would be a disaster. It would mean trying to find opposing viewpoints for every radio program that is out there right now. Radio stations that cater to conservative viewpoints would lose listeners, and sponsors would be wary of buying ad time from them.
I’m a liberal. As such, I would welcome a radio station that would broadcast my viewpoints. I’m not saying conservative viewpoints should dominate the radio airwaves, but rather liberal radio stations should take root and form their own stations.
If a market exists for liberal programming, then a radio station should broadcast one, or, failing that, a liberal group should buy a radio station in order to broadcast one. But under this doctrine, that liberal radio station would then, too, have to broadcast conservative viewpoints.
I wouldn’t want that on a liberal radio station. That being the case, I can understand that a conservative wouldn’t want liberal viewpoints on theirs. We all have to play by the same rules, but a rule imposing viewpoints upon a radio station that doesn’t have an audience for it those viewpoints is unfair. It’d be like balancing a Packers radio station with a Bears fans’ viewpoints, hour by hour. Do you think that station would have as many listeners compared to what it would have if it could just broadcast about the Packers?
It isn’t fair for the government to force any radio station to broadcast anything it doesn’t want to; programming should be left to the discretion of the station’s owner. For that reason, the Fairness Doctrine is unfair.
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