This just in: General Francisco Franco The Fairness Doctrine is still dead.

Posted by Mitchell - July 10, 2007 (entry 554)

In the past couple of weeks, there's been a tizzy of activity involving a law abolished more than 20 years ago, upheld by the public media black hole otherwise known as the First Circuit Court of Appeals, and even when it was on the books, it wasn't all that well enforced.

Yes, it's the dreaded (wait for it!) Fairness Doctrine. So why did this happen?

Well, two groups -- Free Press, and the Center for American Progress -- dared to publish a study documenting that 91% of American talk radio was skewed toward right-wing commentators.

This study led to a lot of foaming of the mouth by the political right wing. Broadcasters got their smelling salts, an attempt to reinstitute the Doctrine in the U.S. House lost badly, and even the local media, whose name is sponsored by the letter "T", got into the act.

That's an amazing response for a law that's been dead for 20 years, and which even if it comes back probably won't improve the state of radio. It does say that these forces are on the defensive, and gives hope and encouragement to the Rebel Alliance.

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