SIGN THIS PLEASE: Media "Fairness Doctrine" petition (Dem legis.)

[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+Content/salon.com+article.htm


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 Rescinded in 1987 by the Federal Communications Commission, the original doctrine made sure that radio and television broadcasters covered political topics with fairness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+Content/Fairness+Doctrine.htm

[Vincardog]

1. Kick

[EC]

2. Done

:kick:

[EVDebs]

3. Be sure to mention Operation Mockingbird and media payoffs...investigation

anyone ?

[Roland99]

4. Signed and forwarded

[moggie12]

7. That's a nice forwarding feature they have

Also, they give you the option of saying "no" to getting any e-mails from them -- a lot of people avoid signing things because they're afraid of getting bombed with tons of follow-up e-mails.

Thanks for signing and forwarding.....

[Roland99]

9. Yeah...I've several people on my dist. list that wouldn't have liked

it if I'd sent them that. I try not to step on toes too often. ;)

[Griffy]

5. Done!! and check out www.left.org , they starting new media! nt

[Guaranteed]

6. Done nt

[moggie12]

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

And there's a thing at the bottom that let's you pick, "No, don't send me any follow-up e-mails that'll clutter up my inbox."

[moggie12]

10. SERIOUSLY, IT JUST TAKES A MINUTE