Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., touched off fierce controversy when he said during an interview on Albuquerque’s KKOB on Wednesday he would favor resurrecting the so-called Fairness Doctrine and mandating "politically balanced" radio programming.
Dennis Prager and other conservative radio talk-show hosts immediately responded that such legislation effectively would end their programs.
The Fairness Doctrine was put in place by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1949 to force the nation’s TV and radio broadcasters to make time for voices on both sides of controversial issues. It was dropped as new technologies offered an abundance of sources for information.
If resurrected, a Christian radio station discussing abortion would have to provide airtime to a pro-abortion voice like Planned Parenthood. Many stations likely would steer clear of controversial topics altogether.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, called Bingaman’s proposal a threat to free speech.
“The senator joins a growing list of liberal Democratic leaders who have indicated their strong support for the so-called Fairness Doctrine," he said. “What Sen. Bingaman refers to as a ‘higher calling’ for radio is, in reality, a thinly veiled attempt to silence opinions and views with which he and other powerful Democrats disagree.”
— Stephen Adams
