Nothing Fair About It

Fairness is a dirty word. When they talk about fairness with regard to income or taxes or wealth you can be certain that means that something you have is going to be taken away and given to someone who deserves it less than the person who earned it.

Fairness in the world of ideas is a tougher nut to crack. When someone suggests that a media outlet be "fair" they might mean that the reporting should be even-handed and unbiased. That would be good. But what if they mean that you must give up some of your property, your intellectual property, to expound on something with which you deeply disagree? That's what the "Fairness Doctrine" seeks.

It was the law of the land until the Supreme Court ruled, correctly I might note, that with regard to a First Amendment protected right to freedom of speech and the press the government cannot demand that I say or publish someone else's opinion simply to create some sort of fairness. The media cannot be compelled to support someone else's idea if they can't get an audience on their own. It was deemed unconstitutional.

But, we've seen that the conservative viewpoint has commandeered talk radio. It isn't forcing people to listen. They just offer a product that people choose. Left-wing talk shows have come nowhere close to building a similar level of support. They screech and squeal but no one is listening. So, the Congress-critters seek to re-establish the Fairness Doctrine and force people to think in a certain way on their licensed airwaves, privately sponsored commercial stations, on their editorial pages, and undoubtedly on their blogs.

Listen to this emotional plea from a US Senator who obviously is unfamiliar with the Bill of Rights or the Supreme Court, but really likes fairness:

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