Citing the proliferation of additional sources to gain information, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said the need of the so-called Fairness Doctrine is less needed now than in 1987 when the decision not to enforce the rule was made.
In a letter to Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind. this week, Martin stated: "Indeed, with the continued proliferation of additional sources of information and programming, including satellite broadcasting and the Internet, the need for the Fairness Doctrine has lessened even further since 1987."
This all started with the defeat of the immigration bill, when conservative talk show hosts were credited with contributing to its defeat after aggressively attacking it.
A number of Democratics at that time said the issue needed to be looked at again after smarting from the defeat.
In response, Pence and other Republicans in the house and senate introduced legislation that would stop the FCC from reinstating the rule without an act of Congress.
The Fairness Doctrine was enacted in the latter part of the 1940s and could take away the licenses of broadcasters if they didn't allow different viewpoints to be offered. Of course that made some sense when there were only a couple of networks. But today people can access information just about anywhere, so it is no longer relevant.Reinstatement makes no sense for anybody. Hopefully the legislation will go forward to close this door permanently.
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