FCC: Fairness Doctrine Is “Phony Issue”

In spite of the ongoing whining of conservative talk show hosts and other right-wingers who worry that their voices will be silenced, FCC Acting Chairman Michael Copps made clear that there is no intention to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine and that it is a “phony issue.”

“The Fairness Doctrine is long gone and it’s not coming back, he said in a speech to media reform group Free Press at the Newseum in Washington Thursday.

Copps was referring to criticism from the right of the FCC’s diversity committee. “A couple of weeks ago, when we finally got the FCC back on track to do something about the shameful state of minority and female ownership of media properties, some had the gall to suggest it was just a ruse to bring the Fairness Doctrine back,” he said.

In a speech to that committee’s first meeting last week, Copps called the fairness doctrine connection “issue mongering,” a phrase he repeated Thursday.

Copps explicitly stated that “democratic dialogue” is not code for “Fairness Doctrine.”  Conspiracy theorists, he stated, are “lurking behind every corner,” but they will not be allowed to get in the way of increasing female and minority ownership.

“We will not lose this opportunity to make real and lasting progress on media reform because some find it is in their self-interest to keep this phony issue alive.”

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.