AROSE by any other name may
On Feb. 26, the Senate passed an attachment to the D.C. Voting Rights bill called the "Broadcaster Freedom Amendment," which prohibits the reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine. That, if you recall, was the measure-for-measure requirement that political speech on radio and television be "balanced." The result? Broadcasters were afraid to allow anything but Pablum on the air.
Democrats have promised they have no intention of restoring the hated measure, but could it be they've had their fingers crossed? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told CNSNews she supports yet another amendment to the D.C. Voting Rights Bill, this one sponsored by Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill. It would force the FCC to "take actions to encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership and to ensure that broadcast station licenses are used in the public interest."
"Diversity" it seems, is "fairness" renamed. House Conference Chairman Mike Pence, R-Ind., agrees. He's a former radio broadcaster. He said, "It's clear to me that Democrats, having failed in their frontal assault on talk radio in America through the Fairness Doctrine, are now shifting strategy to a form of regulation that is essentially the Fairness Doctrine by stealth." Mr. Durbin, of course, denies that.
By whatever name it's called, the attempt by government to "balance" political speech on the airwaves can only hurt. Vigorous discourse is necessary for a democracy to work. Congress shouldn't muzzle the media.