?Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.? In addition to providing religious freedom and free speech, the First Amendment gives the press the right to broadcast what they see fit, as long as it is free of libel and slander, in order to protect citizens’ basic rights.
In light of their recent victory in the presidential election, the liberals in Congress will now start proposing and passing their new laws and policies to enact their form of ?change.?
One of the forms of “change” that liberals have expressed interest in is the reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine seeks to force talk news stations to have equal air-time for both liberal and conservative talk-show hosts.
This concept, if enacted will represent of of the biggest infringements upon the rights enumerated to us in the Constitution.
While President- Elect Barack Obama says he does not support the doctrine, it is doubtful that he would veto the bill should it end up on his desk.
Recently a bill proposed by Mike Pence (R- Indiana) sought to outlaw the reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine. A quote from Nancy Pelosi (D- CA) stated ?the interest in my caucas is the reverse,? and that she personally supports the passing of the Fairness Doctrine.
The Fairness Doctrine is not a new idea from liberals who seek to quiet the voices and opinions of those in dissent. It mandates that contrasting political opinions must be stated on radio stations presenting political or other controversial topics. Talk radio stations with primarily conservative programming would be forced to represent both liberal and conservative sides of the argument.
Perhaps the strongest argument for the Doctrine is the fact that since radio is free and broadcast over public airwaves, both sides of the story must be balanced.
The doctrine applies to liberal stations as well, however the infringement upon their First Amendment rights still applies. Talk radio, regardless of it being conservative or liberal, will be told to present either more republican or more democratic views.
It is not enough for the liberals to control most of the broadcast news networks, most of the cable news networks, movies, television, and many internet sources as well, so they seek to control the one medium that conservatives still have a prominent voice in: talk radio.
Perhaps the Doctrine should apply to broadcast television such as NBC, CBS and ABC as well, perhaps then, ?fair? can be brought into the argument.
