FCC to Delete ‘Fairness Doctrine’

zoeschlanger:

From the WSJ:

Federal regulators will propose removing the “Fairness Doctrine,” a controversial, if little used, regulation on political speech from the books this week, the Federal Communications Commission said Monday.

The Fairness Doctrine, which has been around since 1949, required licensed broadcasters to give equal time to differing political views. The rule was introduced during an era in which there were far fewer media outlets and regulators wanted to ensure that listeners had access to both sides of political debate.

The FCC abandoned the policy in 1987 during the Reagan administration, saying it violated broadcasters’ free speech rights, but the regulation remained on the books.

Read more.

Even though it hasn’t been in wide use since the days of “Charles in Charge” (when Scott Baio had to give equal time to Willie Aames) it’s still sad to see it suffer such a fate.