The Fairness Doctrine
History
The Radio Act of 1927 required that the Federal Radio Commission (FRC), the forerunner of the FCC, grant broadcasting licenses in such a manner as to ensure that licensees served the “public convenience, interest or necessity." To enforce this Congressional mandate, the FRC in 1928 created a policy that would become known as the Fairness Doctrine, which called for broadcasters to show “due regard for the opinions of others."
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted that policy in 1949 as a formal rule by stating that broadcast station licensees were "public trustees" of the airwaves and had the obligation to offer to present contrasting viewpoints on matters of public importance. The FCC later held that licensees were also obligated to actively seek issues of community importance and broadcast programming addressing those issues.
In 1959 Congress amended the Communications Act of 1934 to make the Fairness Doctrine law, rewriting Chapter 315(a) to read: “A broadcast licensee shall afford reasonable opportunity for discussion of conflicting views on matters of public importance."
In 1969, the United States Supreme Court upheld the doctrine’s constitutionality in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC. The court held, "In view of the scarcity of broadcast frequencies, the Government's role in allocating those frequencies, and the legitimate claims of those unable without governmental assistance to gain access to those frequencies for expression of their views, we hold the regulations and [395 U.S. 367, 401] ruling at issue here are both authorized by statute and constitutional."
With the government deregulation sweep and the beginning of mass media mergers during the Reagan Administration of the 1980s, the FCC dissolved the Fairness Doctrine.
The new Chairman of the FCC, Mark Fowler, appointed by President Reagan, publicly avowed to eliminate the Fairness Doctrine. Fowler stated, "The perception of broadcasters as community trustees should be replaced by a view of broadcasters as marketplace participants." [Television is] "just another appliance - it's a toaster with pictures." (Mark S. Fowler, as interviewed in Reason magazine, 1 Nov 1981).
In Meredith Corp. v. FCC (1987), the courts declared that the Doctrine was not mandated by Congress and remanded the issue back to the FCC to determine whether the Doctrine was constitutional and in the public interest. The FCC repealed the Doctrine in August 1987.
However, before the FCC's action, in the spring of 1987, Congress voted to enact the Fairness Doctrine as law--a statutory fairness doctrine which the FCC would have to enforce. President Reagan vetoed the bill. With insufficient votes to override the veto, the bill died.
Congressional efforts to enact the Doctrine into law took place again during the George H.W. Bush administration. President Bush vetoed the bill and it failed again.
How the Fairness Doctrine Worked
Commonly if an individual or citizens group complained to a station about imbalance, the station would set aside time for an on-air response for the omitted perspective. The doctrine neither required that each program be internally balanced nor did it mandate equal time for opposing points of view.
--Row-J 14:29, 13 November 2007 (CST)