Congressional Democrats long have threatened to reinstate the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which would force radio stations to "balance" opinions on controversial issues.
A post-election poll shows very few Americans want such government censorship of the public airwaves.
ATI-Zogby International found 96 percent of Republicans oppose the censorship scheme, as well as 75 percent of those who voted for President-elect Barack Obama. Nearly 9 in 10 independents oppose the government intervention.
Kristen Fyfe, a senior writer at the Media Research Center, said: “There are hundreds of thousands — millions, probably — of Americans who think this particular legislation that has been bandied about by the leading liberals in Congress is a really bad idea.”
The so-called Fairness Doctrine was put in place by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1949 and was dropped as new technologies offered an abundance of sources for information.
"Democrats who have called for reinstating this censorship doctrine simply want to silence conservative ideas on the airwaves," said Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst at Focus on the Family Action.
Democrats have control of both the U.S. House and Senate. With a prospective 3-2 Democratic majority on the FCC, the Fairness Doctrine could be resurrected without approval by Congress.
If resurrected, Christian radio stations discussing abortion likely would have to give airtime to a pro-abortion voice like Planned Parenthood. Some stations may choose to avoid such topics — and programs like "Focus on the Family" — altogether.
TAKE ACTION
The Media Research Center is working to mobilize 500,000 Americans to bury the Fairness Doctrine for good.
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