Mixed news on free speech
July 6, 2007| By Nathaniel Ward
There is more good news for free speech: the House of Representatives recently voted—and overwhelmingly—to block funding for the so-called Fairness Doctrine. The move can be credited in no small measure to Heritage Foundation members and conservatives nationwide who got the message out about the threat the Doctrine posed to free speech.
But the battle to keep the government from silencing conservative voices on the air is far from over. “The real battle over media regulation is still to come, and won’t involve the words ‘Fairness Doctrine,’” Heritage expert James Gattuso writes.
Liberals are now pushing for “reforms” that would require radio operators to operate in the “public interest” and impose arduous new regulations on private ownership of radio and television stations.
“The goal of the reforms is the same as the Fairness Doctrine,” Gattuso explains. They seek “to reduce the influence of conservative talk radio.”
Here’s what they want to do:
- Limit ownership of radio stations in the hope that this “will eliminate many of the owners who favor conservative causes.”
- Require stations to operate in the “public interest”—and “public interest requirements can be defined almost any way a regulator wants — up to and perhaps even beyond that required by the old Fairness Doctrine.”
- Impose fines on stations that don’t comply—and direct these fines “to more ideologically compatible public broadcasters.”
A new report from the left-wing Center for American Progress outlines the liberal plan in detail, Gattuso continues. This report, in fact, calls the Fairness Doctrine “ineffective.”
Heritage is gearing up for the next round in this battle, and we will keep you posted on developments.
Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.
