Apply Fairness Doctrine

[Cancel 2016.2]

A license permits broadcasting, but the licensee has no constitutional right to be the one who holds the license or to monopolize a...frequency to the exclusion of his fellow citizens. There is nothing in the First Amendment which prevents the Government from requiring a licensee to share his frequency with others.... It is the right of the viewers and listeners, not the right of the broadcasters, which is paramount.
— U.S. Supreme Court, upholding the constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, 1969.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0212-03.htm

We can apply the Doctrine to the Web now.


The $787 billion government stimulus package requires the Federal Communications Commission to provide a road map for how potentially billions of future taxpayer dollars should be spent to build or upgrade Internet lines across the U.S. The FCC's effort is expected to be overseen by President Barack Obama's nominee to head the FCC, Julius Genachowski, a former IAC/InterActive Corp. executive and venture capitalist. Mr. Genachowski's confirmation is awaiting Senate action.

Future federal funding for expanding broadband access likely would come through changes to the Universal Service Fund, a $7 billion annual program designed to subsidize phone service in rural areas and to low-income Americans.

The Obama administration says the fund should provide money for broadband, not just phone service.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123897361669991013.html

you really are quite retarded aren't you? While true the licensee doesn't have a Constitutional right to hold the license, the whole point of LICENSING is to grant them a LEGAL right to broadcast over a specific frequency. The programming content is up to them.

It is not as if liberals haven't tried to duplicate what conservatives have done on the airwaves with talk shows. It is simply a matter of people do not listen as much (hence it is not profitable) to liberals on the airwaves.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

SF, we've revoked your license to speak!

Hey, it's not like you have a RIGHT to a license, is it?

 

[Cancel 2016.2]

SF, we've revoked your license to speak!

Hey, it's not like you have a RIGHT to a license, is it?

lmao.... um tell you what.... you find someone who can enforce that and I might consider abiding by your revocation.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

DNC wants to apply the fairness doctrine to the web.

What a pathetic troll. The best trolls have at least SOME fact based in them. It's only an effective troll if it does mock the FACT of your opposition. If you completely make up everything that you post, it's not funny.

 

[uscitizen]

you really are quite retarded aren't you? While true the licensee doesn't have a Constitutional right to hold the license, the whole point of LICENSING is to grant them a LEGAL right to broadcast over a specific frequency. The programming content is up to them.

It is not as if liberals haven't tried to duplicate what conservatives have done on the airwaves with talk shows. It is simply a matter of people do not listen as much (hence it is not profitable) to liberals on the airwaves.

the program content is up to them huh?
Is hustler showing on any broadcast TV channels?
The liscence comes with conditions which have been subverted over time by big money.
News used to be a public service requirement under liscencing.
Now it is a politically purchased commodity.

 

[Cancel4]

Congressman Henry Waxman's staff is looking into a congressionally-mandated policy that would require all TV and radio stations to create advisory panels to act as watchdogs to ensure the needs and opinions of the community are given fair treatment. Reports from the advisory panels would be used for license reviews.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is looking forward to oversight of the internet. Internet radio allows rightwing websites to control information, while sites that may be of greater interest and usefulness to citizens get limited traffic because of the way people selook for information on the web.

 

[Cancel3]

Congressman Henry Waxman's staff is looking into a congressionally-mandated policy that would require all TV and radio stations to create advisory panels to act as watchdogs to ensure the needs and opinions of the community are given fair treatment. Reports from the advisory panels would be used for license reviews.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is looking forward to oversight of the internet. Internet radio allows rightwing websites to control information, while sites that may be of greater interest and usefulness to citizens get limited traffic because of the way people selook for information on the web.

I am sure having the government determine the content of all radio, tv, and internet sites would be your greatest wet dream.

For those who value freedom, it is a nightmare.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

try reading a ruling after 1969....early 80s i believe, scotus ruled the doctrine then unconstitutional as the factors for its constitutionality (which should never have been ruled that way, however it was) no longer exist

I suggest you re-read the rulings. The Fairness Doctrine has never been ruled unconstitutional.

The 1974 case Miami Herald Publishing Company vs. Tonillo applies only to a newspaper which is unlicensed and can face a theoretically-unlimited number of competitors.

In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not forbid editorials by non-profit stations that received grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (FCC v. League of Women Voters of California, 468 U.S. 364 (1984)). The Court's 5-4 majority decision by William J. Brennan, Jr. stated that while many now considered that expanding sources of communication had made the Fairness Doctrine's limits unnecessary, "We are not prepared, however, to reconsider our longstanding approach without some signal from Congress or the FCC that technological developments have advanced so far that some revision of the system of broadcast regulation may be required."

SCOTUS, furthermore, stated that the FCC could modify or eliminate the Fairness Doctrine and that SCOTUS had no view on the legality of such a course of action by the FCC.

Those are the only SCOTUS cases involving the Fairness Doctrine since 1969.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

puh leaze!

air america had its shot. nobody wants to listen to liberal whiners. you lost the radio airwaves war, get over it.

Actually that's not as true as you think. Liberal political media may have lost the AM radio wars but they are kicking conservativs ass in cyberspace as a media outlet for liberal politics. You only have to look at the success of the Obama campaign which organized it's political message and financing through the internet with a high degree of effectiveness that conservative media failed to match.

It also shows a generational gap. Older, less tech savy people tend to listen to AM radio where as few younger tech savy people even bother to listen to AM radio and gain most of their information. The fact that the tech savy younger generation is trending far more liberal than conservative is a strong indication that conservatives are losing the generational war for the hearts and minds of voters.

In this respect the conservative movement is grossly lossing the media wars. AM radio is a dinosaur and liberal medias success on the internet has demonstrated that conservatives are losing the younger generation by leaps and bounds and have been unable to adapt to changes in media communications. To that affect, the Fairness Doctrine, particularly as applied to the internet, would be of much greater strategic advantage to conservative politicians then it would be to liberal politicians. That is essentially why you see no real serious efforts to revive the Fairness Doctrine by Democrats. It's a political ruse just to get their right wing panties in a wad.

Hell I can't even remember the last time I listend to AM radio and I don't know anyone under 40 who listens to it at all.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Congressman Henry Waxman's staff is looking into a congressionally-mandated policy that would require all TV and radio stations to create advisory panels to act as watchdogs to ensure the needs and opinions of the community are given fair treatment. Reports from the advisory panels would be used for license reviews.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is looking forward to oversight of the internet. Internet radio allows rightwing websites to control information, while sites that may be of greater interest and usefulness to citizens get limited traffic because of the way people selook for information on the web.

Shit like this is why the Dems got thrown out in 1980.

 

[Cancel4]

Ray-gun gave arms to Iran so he could beat Carter.

 

[SmarterthanYou]

Hell I can't even remember the last time I listend to AM radio and I don't know anyone under 40 who listens to it at all.

I started at the age of 37. that was 5 years ago. I know a few who started a bit younger than me. I know of two of my friends in their 20s who do.

perhaps your generalizations aren't as accurate as you think?

 

[uscitizen]

I started at the age of 37. that was 5 years ago. I know a few who started a bit younger than me. I know of two of my friends in their 20s who do.

perhaps your generalizations aren't as accurate as you think?

Reepublicans are required to listen to AM Talk Radio. It is a party moral imperative.
After all an unprogrammed mind tends to turn out Liberal

 

[leaningright]

Reepublicans are required to listen to AM Talk Radio. It is a party moral imperative.
After all an unprogrammed mind tends to turn out Liberal

That last sentence is probably true. I've never been a listener to talk radio (unless it's about sports) but we all know where my mind got its programming.

 

[SmarterthanYou]

Reepublicans are required to listen to AM Talk Radio. It is a party moral imperative.
After all an unprogrammed mind tends to turn out Liberal

utter bullshit. surprisingly, to most here anyway, I started out very liberal. I grew up in Northern Illinois, around nothing but democrats and liberalism. It was all I knew. It wasn't until 7 years ago that I could see the hypocrisy of liberalism for what it really was. Of course, I didn't think conservatives were much better either. Libertarianism is indeed the only way, the only true path to freedom. Of course most people can't have that type of open freedom, that would just be too much for all the panty waisters who trust government more than they trust people.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

I started at the age of 37. that was 5 years ago. I know a few who started a bit younger than me. I know of two of my friends in their 20s who do.

perhaps your generalizations aren't as accurate as you think?

In an absolute sense, you may be right. I'm sure there are some under 30 who listen to AM radio. Other than that, the point I'm making is spot on as my source of information is a Republican strategist and this is a deep concern to them.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

utter bullshit. surprisingly, to most here anyway, I started out very liberal. I grew up in Northern Illinois, around nothing but democrats and liberalism. It was all I knew. It wasn't until 7 years ago that I could see the hypocrisy of liberalism for what it really was. Of course, I didn't think conservatives were much better either. Libertarianism is indeed the only way, the only true path to freedom. Of course most people can't have that type of open freedom, that would just be too much for all the panty waisters who trust government more than they trust people.

Sorry, libertarianism is pretty much a waste of time. It's little more than mental masturbation. George Carlin was spot on in his assesment of libertarianism. Libertarians are the eunichs of American politics.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Libertarianism is indeed the only way, the only true path to freedom.

You see, it's when you get like that that you go off the radar and stop critical thinking, blindly accepting anything libertarians throw out. It's when you think your dogma has a natural right to be enshrined in governance that you become a political psycho.

 

[FUCK THE POLICE]

Sorry, libertarianism is pretty much a waste of time. It's little more than mental masturbation. George Carlin was spot on in his assesment of libertarianism. Libertarians are the eunichs of American politics.

Libertarianism presents a simple, easy to understand version of the universe, and it's easy to see how that can be attractive. Unfortunately, things are just a lot more complicated than that, and trying to apply Libertarianism to real life results in easily seeable disaster. They just abandon logic, much like the communists did, because they KNOW that their way is right and there's no other possible way.

 

[SmarterthanYou]

Sorry, libertarianism is pretty much a waste of time. It's little more than mental masturbation. George Carlin was spot on in his assesment of libertarianism. Libertarians are the eunichs of American politics.

I love George, but taking political advice from George is like taking political news from Stewart of Colbert seriously. It just shouldn't be done.