Tuesday, February 20, 2007

The Fairness Doctrine treated the public airwaves as a public resource and those who ran stations were "public trustees," thus they were responsible to provide opportunity for the presentation of contrasting points of view. This is precisely what Ingraham and other members of the right-wing radio juggernaut do not want to see happen, though bringing back the Fairness Doctrine would bring the issue full circle.

Abolition of the Fairness Doctrine by Ronald Reagan didn't have a lot to do with serving the public good, rather it was a political maneuver hatched by the Republican Party. It is indeed ironic that the party that created a right-wing talk radio monopoly ostensibly because the media wasn't "fair and balanced," outlawed the very mechanism that ensured this type of coverage for all sides.

Some cynics have suggested that Republicans want the ability to spew propaganda in the guise of news, giving rise to the deceit of Fox "Republican" News calling itself "Fair and Balanced" when objective analysis points to the opposite.

As for right-wing talk radio being "Fair and Balanced," Howie Carr calls Democrats "Moon Bats." OK, where's the Democratic response to Republican "leadership" on issues such as Iraq?

Bring back the Fairness Doctrine.

Mark Tardif

Waterville