If not the Fairness Doctrine then how about some fairness?

If you needed anymore proof of how bankrupt the Republican Party is, you just need to witness the fight over the Fairness Doctrine.

The explosion in right wing talk radio coincided with the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987 under Ronald Regan by the Federal Communications Commission. The Fairness Doctrine was formally adopted as an FCC rule in 1949 requiring broadcasters to devote some of their airtime on the public airwaves to discussing controversial matters of public interest, and to air contrasting views regarding those matters. Stations were given wide latitude as to how to provide contrasting views: It could be done through news segments, public affairs shows or editorials, according to Steve Rendall of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR).

There has been some talk of bringing the Fairness Doctrine back to correct the imbalance that has 10 hours of conservative talk for every one hour of liberal talk on the air. Actually, the Fairness Doctrine was never formally repealed. The FCC did announce in 1987 that it would no longer enforce certain regulations under the umbrella of the Fairness Doctrine, and a 1989 a circuit court upheld the FCC decision. The Supreme Court, however, has never overruled the cases that authorized the FCC’s enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine.

The talk of bring back the Fairness Doctrine or actually enforcing it has led right-wingers to go berserk, and they have latched onto the false talking point that it’s a violation of free speech, unconstitutional and it contradicts the foundational principle of free speech and First Amendment rights. There is, of course, no explanation of how the Fairness Doctrine would muzzle any rightwing hatemongers.

How about instead of the Fairness Doctrine how about just some basic fairness? When liberal talk radio, which has been around less than a decade, is allowed to compete head-to-head with rightwing talk it does as well or better.

But how is it fair that the five companies that own all of the radio stations in the country have 600 stations with rightwing programming and only 60 with liberal talk? For an example of the unfairness, consider WJR radio. It has 50,000 watts that can blast its signal all over the state. Hell, I picked up Ernie Harwell doing a Tigers game late one night on the Maryland Shore while driving from Virginia to New York.

WJR is located in a blue state in one of the most liberal cities in that blue state, but there is not one progressive voice on that station. Now, they point to Mitch Albom, but I have never heard Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hanity talk about the new Lions coach. How is it fair that right-wingers can compete on a 50,000 watt powerhouse, but you can’t receive the signal from the liberal talk radio on WDTW 1310 in Detroit at all at night and a weak signal during the day?

Apparently, right-wingers are so concerned that they will actually have to compete fairly that rightwing Congressman Mike Pence and Senator Jim DeMint introduced something called the “Broadcaster Freedom Act” that would prevent the FCC from repromulgating the Fairness Doctrine. It’s kind of like Bush’s Healthy Forest Act or Clean Air Act that does the opposite of what its name implies.

The rightwing echo chamber has swung into full gear, and the rightwing, so-called “American Center for Law and Justice” has a form letter you can copy and send to your federal representative.

Although it was written almost four years ago to the day, the article by Steve Rendall is still relevant on why we need the Fairness Doctrine or some basic fairness.

Instead of being in violation of free speech and being unconstitutional, “citizen groups used the Fairness Doctrine as a tool to expand speech and debate. For instance, it prevented stations from allowing only one side to be heard on ballot measures. Over the years, it had been supported by grassroots groups across the political spectrum, including the ACLU, National Rifle Association and the right-wing Accuracy In Media.”

“The necessity for the Fairness Doctrine, according to proponents, arises from the fact that there are many fewer broadcast licenses than people who would like to have them. Unlike publishing, where the tools of the trade are in more or less endless supply, broadcasting licenses are limited by the finite number of available frequencies. Thus, as trustees of a scarce public resource, licensees accept certain public interest obligations in exchange for the exclusive use of limited public airwaves. One such obligation was the Fairness Doctrine.”

What thing that has led to the glut of rightwing radio in places where it makes absolutely no sense, like WJR, is the consolidation of radio stations. There is very little local radio, and the only way you can tell you are listening to a station in Michigan and one in California is by the commercials.

We just saw what consolidation did to Detroit sports station WDFN when it fired the local hosts in favor of syndicated programs.

That’s why we need more Low Power FM radio stations. These stations are authorized for noncommercial educational broadcasting only, and they operate with an effective radiated power of 100 watts with a range of about 3.5 miles.

The two biggest problems in radio are consolidation and an uneven playing field. This needs to be corrected, and I don’t care how it’s accomplished.

Policy summit brings together diverse progressive groups

LANSING -- Only the Second Annual Michigan Policy Conference, sponsored by the Michigan Prospect, could bring so many diverse progressive groups together under one roof.

More than 600 people gathered at the Lansing Center for an all-day summit to work toward some common goals. The day featured breakout sessions, skills workshops and speakers, like author and journalist Amy Goodman and author and humorist Jim Hightower. The summit centered on three policy areas: health care, the environment and education. The summit brought together diverse groups representing labor unions, the environment, civil rights, LBGT, health care and peace groups.

“The good news is we are here,” said Lynn Jondahl, Executive Director of the Michigan Prospect. “The bad news is we are facing a battle of every front.”
The mission of the Michigan Prospect is to connect citizens and government in order to advance a just and humane democratic society.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin was also on hand, and he fired up the attendees. He said one of the goals in turning the nation's and state’s economy around is to address the $100 billon the U.S. is losing to companies who move offshore just to avid paying taxes.
“The Republicans are going to say you are raising taxes,” he said. “We are not raising taxes; we are enforcing the tax laws for people who are avoiding their fair share of taxes.”

The Iraq occupation is sucking billons of dollars that is increasing the budget deficit and could be used to address problems the country is facing.
“$600 billon is has gone to a war we never should have been in,” Levin said. “The only way to end that war is to elect a Democrat in November.”
Goodman is an author and the host and executive producer of Democracy Now!, an independent national, daily, award-winning news program that airs on more than 700 radio and television stations in North America.

Goodman took the mainstream media to task for their failure to do its job in the lead up to the Iraq war and to look closer at the manufactured evidence the Bush Administration used to plunge the country into war. She said the media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) did a study of the three network news programs in the three months leading up to the invasion, and it found 393 interviews were held about the war, but only three were with people who questioned or were against the war.

“That is no longer the mainstream media,” she said. “This is the corporate media that was beating the drum for war. We need the full diversity of opinion.”
Goodman said outlets like Democracy Now and blogs are the independent media voices. She said the so-called mainstream media is still not doing its job after it was reveled the media did not do its job looking at the manufactured evidence in the lead up to the invasion. She said one-third of the Iraq and Afghanistan vets who are not killed or wounded are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome. The media has also not reported on the 120 suicides a week.

She cited the mainstream media’s lack of coverage of Winter Solider, recently held in Maryland over four-days sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War. It was modeled after the historic Winter Solider held in Detroit in 1971. It featured testimony from Iraq and Afghan vets, but the only media attention it got was a small mention in the Washington Post.

“We rushed down there to get our cameras in place because we knew this was not the know-nothing political pundits, this was the men and women who fought the war,” Goodman said. “We needn’t have worried; there was no other media there.”
Goodman also said the media has not done its job reporting on the Bush Administration’s torture policy. Goodman congratulated U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, on its vote to subpoena Vice President Cheney's chief of staff David Addington to testify about his role in the torture scandal.

“We are supposed to be a model of behavior to the world,” she said. “America is better than that.”