'Unfairness' Doctrine - back by popular demand?

'Unfairness' Doctrine - back by popular demand?
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 12/6/2008 4:00:00 AM


A non-profit think tank says bringing back the misnamed Fairness Doctrine would be an "open invitation for political abuse."

The Independent Women's Forum (IWF) has joined a chorus of other concerned organizations in trying to warn the American public about the consequences if the Democratic-controlled Congress is able to reinstate the so-called "Fairness Doctrine." Allison Kasic, a spokeswoman for the IWF, believes the Fairness Doctrine is clearly misnamed. "The 'Unfairness Doctrine' would be much better [because] it has a lot of potential to basically shut down and silence your critic, and it flies in the face of what this country stands for," she contends. "Among other things, it's basically an open invitation for political abuse, using this rhetoric of fairness to silence your critics." Kasic points out that what makes proposals to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine particularly unfair is that it targets a specific medium, namely radio. "The fact that this regulation would go after, specifically, radio shows just how politically motivated it is because, in essence, they're going after conservatives by the sheer fact that conservatives have dominated talk radio over the past couple decades," she adds. While liberals, according to Kasic, present themselves as victims of conservative talk radio, she notes it is their domination of the mainstream media that most encouraged the rise of talk radio, and the conservative right had little choice but to create a new forum for communication.