SIGN THIS PLEASE: "Fairness Doctrine" petition(no more FOX-type garbage)

[moggie12]

Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) just introduced a bill to revive the Fairness Doctrine. Below is a link to a petition in support of the bill (the petition seems to be a joint project of Democracy Radio, Media Matters for America, and the Media Access Project).

Please consider signing!! And getting all your friends and family to sign, too!
http://www.fairnessdoctrine.com /

So far they've got 5,039 signatures -- it'd sure be nice to see a couple of million..... (Opinion polls seem to indicate widespread public support -- in one poll, 77% of respondents said they were in favor.)


Here's a link to a "Salon.com" article talking about her bill, which also reviews the history of the Fairness Doctrine (stupid me, I didn't even realize we didn't have one anymore until recently!):
http://www.slaughter.house.gov/HoR/Louise/Hidden+Conten...


Snip from Salon article:

"As the punditocracy's payola scandal -- which has featured conservative commentators such as Armstrong Williams cashing Bush administration checks -- continues to spread in Washington, some Democrats hope the fallout will be enough to kick-start support for the Fairness Doctrine. Rescinded in 1987 by the Federal Communications Commission, the original doctrine made sure that radio and television broadcasters covered political topics with fairness and balance.

Architects of the policy, established in 1949, concerned themselves with keeping the airwaves open to both opponents and proponents of public-policy issues. They likely never foresaw the possibility of broadcast pundits secretly being on the government payroll while touting White House policies.

But Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., thinks the growing outrage over media misconduct will help spur interest in the doctrine. Last week she introduced the Fairness and Accountability in Media Act, which would revive the Fairness Doctrine with new requirements for local broadcasters. Currently, the FCC is investigating the Williams case for possible payola violations -- accepting cash to say things on the air and not disclosing the payments to audiences."


Finally, Rep. Slaughter convened a conference of experts on 1/26 to discuss the current sad state of the media. This is the link from her website -- it provides info about what was said:
http://www.slaughter.house.gov/HoR/Louise/Hidden+Conten...

[Cleita]

1. Done. n/t

[Lefty48197]

2. Here's a good commentary about the Fairness Doctrine

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=009W0C
America would be a much better country if we had the fairness doctrine.

[henrik larssonisking]

3. not sure if i like this idea

personally im all for letting people watch whatever they want, i dont like the idea of the government watching every political show or network to govern the balance. I watch shows from all over the spectrum, and i want the freedom to watch whatever i want.

[Cleita]

5. If there would be shows from all over the spectrum that would be

fine, but there isn't. There is only one view being aired on MSM today and that is the right wing, religious, Republican view. It's because they are not made to air both sides. This is why we need the fairness doctrine.

[moggie12]

6. Well actually, I doubt it has a snowball's chance in hell of passing

Escpecially since the Repubs control Congress and want to protect the little darling, FOX. The point of this is to turn up the heat, I think -- to show broad public support for actual "fair and balanced" news.

[Stop_the_War]

4. DOWN WITH FOX AND THEIR PROPAGANDA!!!!

[VOX]

7. Done, with pleasure and a sense of urgency. n/t

[ReverendDeuce]

8. Peddle this to righties as helping "even the field against liberal media"

They eat that shit up!

[kiraboo]

9. LOL

I did just that! After all, who can argue against fairness and balance? ;-)

[moggie12]

10. Oh c'mon, only takes a minute to sign this stupid thing

[Liberal Classic]

11. Why should Al Franken...

Be forced to have Pat Buchanan on his show?

How many channels were there in 1949?

No thank you.

[confuddled]

12. Right, don't sign it if you're not concerned ...

... about Rush's malevolent megaphone, Savage's vile spew, all the right wing talking/screaming heads, Clear Channel's growing tentacles, and Sinclair's monopolistic effort to ram their message down their captive audience's throat. We have AAR now, but they're preaching to the choir. If you're not interested in equal access to the public airwaves, then don't bother being perplexed about the profusion of red states and the apparent stupidity of the voters.
This may not be the perfect solution but until we have better access to the airwaves we're not going to get our message (whatever it may be) out. If someone has a better solution, suggest it.
Add: Meanwhile read the material available at the petition site for a better idea of what this proposal involves.