Republicans seek to bar Fairness Doctrine's return

Lets not get so wrapped up in the "real" problems of the day that we allow something like the Fairness Doctrine to sneak up on us and snatch away one of our fundamental rights as Americans. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." – First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

On a related matter, I think we have seen such a change in reporting by the media that the correct terminology for those TV shows that come on every night around 6:00 or so, should be "The Views" rather than "The News".

How is it against the First Amendment to require equal time for opposing views? The Fairness Doctrine didn't stop anyone from commenting on the "public" airwaves, it simply required equal time for rebuttal. Something that most talk shows would benefit from and certainly something lacking on news programs.

It is important to remember the context of TFD. The law went into place when many communities were served by a single radio and later TV station. Equal time was much more important on each station. In our modern information age almost every person in the US has access to multiple sources of political information so equal time is not AS crucial as in the past. The original doctrine was aimed at campaign time, not talk radio. Enforcing such a law in the modern cable/satellite world would be insanely difficult.

I find it interesting that it is the Republicans, with all their screeching about Media's Liberal Bias, that is bringing up the Fair Doctrine Act. After all, aren't they the "Fair and Balanced" people...? Gee, maybe this is yet another attempt to divert attention away from real issues by scaring people with "an attack on American freedom." Good riddance, Republicans!