DEMS GET SET TO MUZZLE THE RIGHT - New York Post
SHOULD Barack Obama win the presidency and Democrats take full control of Congress, next year will see a real legislative attempt to bring back the Fairness Doctrine - and to diminish conservatives’ influence on broadcast radio, the one medium they dominate.
Yes, the Obama campaign said some months back that the candidate doesn’t seek to re-impose this regulation, which, until Ronald Reagan’s FCC phased it out in the 1980s, required TV and radio broadcasters to give balanced airtime to opposing viewpoints or face steep fines or even loss of license. But most Democrats - including party elders Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and Al Gore - strongly support the idea of mandating “fairness.”
Do you think a reconstituted fairness doctrine would withstand constitutional scrutiny today?
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Depends on what pressure the Prez puts on the court. For all we know, H might be as nasty a back-room tyrant as FDR.
Also depends on how long it takes a case to work its way up. H might be able to put a couple of
asshand-picked “Living Constitutionists” in place.As the court is composed now, it probably would. And for the most part, it has been upheld in the past.
Link.
This, from your cite, is what I was thinking about when I asked, Daniel.
Hasn’t it become generally accepted that spectrum is much wider and more accessible these days, than it was when they were upholding the FCC?
Why not, they upheld McCain-Feingold.
If Obama is elected expect it. And expect ‘net neutrality’ to be an integral part of the new Fairness Doctrine.
And I find it humorous that anyone thinks it would get to the SC.
Perhaps some preemption is in order. I’d like to see some enterprising (and well financed) radio station simply go on the air without bothering to get FCC approval. It’s time to just directly challenge the idea that the “ether” is a limited resource and, more importantly, that it is somehow “owned” by the Feds.
That is indeed true. That was, for instance, one of the reasons why the FTC allowed the Sirius/XM merger.
How the courts will apply these new developments in assessing the constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine is another matter. My guess, if it ever gets this far, is that you’ll have at least four justices who, while acknowledging the wider availability of media in general, will still say something to the effect that am/fm radio and non-cable tv are the only “free” sources of news. They could carve out the internet by noting that if you want it in your home, you still have to pay at least $30 a month, plus have the means to own a computer.
Assuming you have a phone line you can still get dailup at $9.99 and you can get a usable PC from Goodwill or a Flea market for under $200.00. Basic phone service is now considered a “necessity”.