Free Speech – n. "The right to express any opinion in public without censorship or restraint by the government." – Answers.com
Lately, because of the dominant conservative tone of talk radio, there have been calls for a return to something referred to as "The Fairness Doctrine". In reality, it should have really been called the "Forced-Balance Doctrine". Unfortunately, freedom of speech is not necessarily about balance. Rather, freedom of speech is more often about imbalance – and how the strength of one or more opinions wins in the competitive court of public discourse.
If balance was what we always strived for, we would never be able to move forward and take action after the debate has ended. We would be paralyzed by equilibrium.
The Rise and Fall of "Fairness"
"The Fairness Doctrine" was a regulatory policy instituted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1949 – a policy adopted during the Democratic administration of President Harry S. Truman.
As Val E. Limburg points out at museum.tv, "The fairness doctrine ran parallel to Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1937 [sic] which required stations to offer 'equal opportunity' to all legally qualified political candidates for any office if they had allowed any person running in that office to use the station…The fairness doctrine was simply FCC policy."
The Fairness Doctrine was given some credibility in a 1969 Supreme Court ruling called Red Lion Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. FCC.
But, during the Republican administration of Ronald Reagan in 1985 according to Limburg, "...the FCC issued its Fairness Report, asserting that the doctrine was no longer having its intended effect, might actually have a 'chilling effect' and might be in violation of the First Amendment."
A Rush to the Right
History is a myriad of intersecting forces which produce a series of events that we remember as significant. During the 1980s, The Fairness Doctrine went to the wayside, AM radio stations were becoming less popular due to the rise of FM, and Rush Limbaugh launched his national program.
The success of conservative talk radio, spearheaded by Limbaugh, is one of those "right place at the right time" things.
