White House: Obama Opposes 'Fairness Doctrine' Revival

[a kennedy]

A White House spokesman tells FOXNews.com President Obama opposes any move to bring back the so-called Fairness Doctrine.

I shouldn't even be reading this trash......but need some reassurance on it...... and has this already been discussed on DU??


President Obama opposes any move to bring back the so-called Fairness Doctrine, a spokesman told FOXNews.com Wednesday.

The statement is the first definitive stance the administration has taken since an aide told an industry publication last summer that Obama opposes the doctrine -- a long-abolished policy that would require broadcasters to provide opposing viewpoints on controversial issues.

"As the president stated during the campaign, he does not believe the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt told FOXNews.com.

That was after both senior adviser David Axelrod and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs left open the door on whether Obama would support reinstating the doctrine.

"I'm going to leave that issue to Julius Genachowski, our new head of the FCC ... and the president to discuss. So I don't have an answer for you now," Axelrod told FOX News Sunday over the weekend when asked about the president's position.

The debate over the so-called Fairness Doctrine has heated up in recent days as prominent Democratic senators have called for the policies to be reinstated. Conservative talk show hosts, who see the doctrine as an attempt to impose liberal viewpoints on their shows, largely oppose any move to bring it back.

full article: <http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/18/white-house-opposes-fairness-doctrine/>

[pnutbutr]

1. cool

No reason for it to be brought back and would only serve to fuel the partisanship that's already out of control.

[mmonk]

2. We know. Let propaganda reign for the sake of "free speech".

Let the truth stay silent or remain not covered by the media.

[MikeNearMcChord]

3. Use the Sherman Anti-Trust act

Put it on steroids and go to town on the large communication comapanies that have so much monopoly on our radio and TV.

[Champion Jack]

4. Don't believe anything you see on Faux

Doesn't sound like this issue is settled.

[stillcool]

5. The Fairness Doctrine

will not fix what the 'media' chooses to report. What difference does it make if contrasting views are aired, when the opinions are lies that are not questioned, and relevant news goes unreported?

According to Steve Rendall of the progressive media criticism group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting,

The Fairness Doctrine had two basic elements: It required broadcasters to devote some of their airtime to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows, or editorials. The doctrine did not require equal time for opposing views but required that contrasting viewpoints be presented.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2053l

According to Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of MAP, scheduling response time was based on time of day, frequency and duration of the original perspective. “If one view received a lot of coverage in primetime,” Schwartzman told Extra!, “then at least some response time would have to be in primetime. Likewise if one side received many short spots or really long spots.” But the remedy did not amount to equal time; the ratio of airtime between the original perspective and the response “could be as much as five to one,” said Schwartzman.

As a guarantor of balance and inclusion, the Fairness Doctrine was no panacea. It was somewhat vague, and depended on the vigilance of listeners and viewers to notice imbalance. But its value, beyond the occasional remedies it provided, was in its codification of the principle that broadcasters had a responsibility to present a range of views on controversial issues.

excerpts from the book
How To Watch TV News
by Neil Postman and Steve Powers
Penguin Books, 2008, paperback
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Broadcast_Media/HowToWatchTVNews.htm
p20
Ben Bagdikian
Though today's media reach more Americans than ever before, they are controlled by the smallest number of owners than ever before... in 1983, there were fifty dominant media corporations, today there are five.
p21
Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC)
The top five programmers - Viacom/CBS, Disney/ABC, NBC, Time Warner and News Corp./Fox - now control 75 percent of prime-time programming and are projected to increase their share to 85 percent.