As you may have heard, a number of politicians have expressed interest in reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. This policy required that TV and radio stations provide airtime to opposing veiwpoints. It was allowed to expire in 1987 by President Regan. AM radio at the time was limited to a handful of stations. Since the end of the Fairness Doctrine, it has expanded considerably. There are now over 3,000 AM stations nationwide. Most of these stations are of the talk radio format. Talk radio is mostly conservative, with personalities such as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck and Laura Ingrahm who are carried on hundreds of stations. For conservatives, talk radio is a major source of news and commentary on current events. They listen to it, not to get their marching orders, or because they're "mind-numbed robots" but beacuse many of them are ALREADY conservative and they agree with what the host is saying.
Conservative talk radio shows and stations vastly outnumber their liberal counterparts because conservative programming tends to bring in more listeners. Businesses realize this and are more willing to pay good money to advertise on those stations because more listeners means more potential customers for those businesses. If the Fairness Doctrine is ever reinstated, these stations would have to drop some of their conservative programming in favor of more liberal programming. They would most likely lose some (if not all) their advertising revenue and more than a few would have to close down as a consequence. The net result would be a drastic reduction in conservatives ability to make their voices heard. This is censorship, pure and simple. Liberalism already has TV and print media to make its veiws known. Conservative talk radio acts as a counterbalance to that; it is "equal time"!
The Fairness Doctrine is anything but fair. It is a violation of our 1st amendment right to free speech. It is unamerican. Those that would attempt to reinstate will try to do so by disguising it, repackaging it to make it seem more appealing to the public. They will say it's for the sake of "fairness" or "diversity". It is not. It will be an attempt by those in power to stifle dissent, to keep us in the dark. If a bill comes before congress to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in whatever form they choose, it will our duty as Americans to be ready to make our voices heard. For "the price of liberty is eternal vigilance".