Culture: "Fairness Doctrine" Deemed Unfair

This is good news for free speech, particularly for the conservative news media.

Conservative radio talk show hosts and protectors of free speech won the latest round in a battle over the public airwaves on Thursday, as the Senate voted to block the Fairness Doctrine in an overwhelming 87-11 vote.

The vote, which added the measure to a bill giving Washington, D.C., a voting member in the House of Representatives, would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the doctrine requiring the government to regulate and restrict broadcasted political views.

“Today’s vote slammed the front door on the so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine,’ which threatens to censor free speech and shut down talk radio,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., the amendment’s main sponsor. “When senators were forced to vote in the open on this issue, they were compelled to side with the American people.”