Importance of the FCC's "Fairness Doctrine"

[Shiranu]

In honor of Rush Limbaugh's passing, here is an important lesson on why a cancer like himself was allowed to spread, and why its spread so rapidly out of the blue.

In 1987 Reagan repelled the "Fairness Doctrine", a FCC policy that, "required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was honest, equitable, and balanced.".



The modern political landscape we see today is entirely a product of Reagan, just like so much of the terrible aspects of American politics. He really just opened a floodgate of corruption and moral decadency.

https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Viewpoint-America-needs-to-reinstate-the-15970955.php

Upon reading about the career of Rush Limbaugh in his obituary, it occurred to me that if it weren’t for the Reagan administration doing away with the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, Limbaugh’s rise, Fox News as it now exists, and the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol would probably never have occurred.
Formulated by the Federal Communications Commission in 1949, the Fairness Doctrine was a rule, not a statute. It required licensed radio and television broadcasters to present issues of public importance in a fair, honest and balanced way. Though the rule withstood legal challenges, the FCC did away with it. Congress voted to reinstate it as a statute, but President Ronald Reagan vetoed it, and later attempts failed to pass.
    It is clear to me that the divisiveness in this country today, which unquestionably led to the events of Jan. 6, is a direct result of Congress’ failure to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine. Notwithstanding the internet’s influence, it’s clear that radio and television news and opinion shows, both liberal and conservative, are far more influential in shaping and reinforcing our opinions. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t have three hours of local news on television each day, nor the plethora of radio and television stations devoted entirely to news and opinion. As a gauge of their power and influence, Mediaite, a liberal news and opinion site, projected that Fox, CNN, and MSNBC alone last year would earn $2.8 billion in advertising revenue.

[Mike Cl]

Nixon and Ford started this trend for the repubs to start their attack on the consititution and how the republic (always mislabeled as a democracy) works.  Ford made is so much easier for the top politicians to basically do whatever they wanted; pardoning Nixon was a huge mistake and lead to Trump; and who knows who else.  Regan accelerated the corporate take over  for the country.  He is, in my opinion, one of the most destructive presidents we have had.  And all the repubs since have carried on the tradition of giving the country to the 1% and making authoritian measures more and more powerful--and common.