National Center For Public Policy Research Opposes Maurice Hinchey's Fairness Doctrine

I just received the following e-mail from the National Center for Public Policy Research, a free-market-oriented think tank. Maurice Hinchey is my Congressman in West Shokan, New York. His anti-civil libertarian interest in the "fairness doctrine" saddens me.


>..."Despite Congress voting to oppose reinstituting the Fairness Doctrine in June by an overwhelming vote of 309 to 115, Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) intends to re-introduce legislation "to restore the Fairness Doctrine" in coming weeks.

>"Introduced in 1949 when there were relatively few broadcast outlets, the Fairness Doctrine was administered by the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that no single political viewpoint dominated the airwaves. In 1985, the FCC determined that "a multiplicity of voices in the marketplace assured diversity of opinion" and the Fairness Doctrine was no longer achieving its intended goals and was possibly creating a "chilling effect" on free speech. The FCC rescinded the Fairness Doctrine in 1987.

>"Recently, liberal lawmakers and their special interest supporters have raised the possibility of reinstituting the Fairness Doctrine because there are more conservative talk shows than liberal ones among profit-driven radio stations. FCC chairman Kevin Martin has publicly opposed bringing the Fairness Doctrine back, telling Broadcasting and Cable magazine that the absence of it "has made a lot of opportunities like talk radio." President Bush has made it known he would veto any legislation that seeks to reimpose the Fairness Doctrine.

>"Project 21's Massie added: "With Hispanic media outlets such as Telemundo and Univision carried on almost every cable system and strong ratings for Hispanic radio stations nationwide, along with unprecedented media choices through television, radio and the Internet, it is disingenuous in this day and age to say there is no way to voice an opinion. The Fairness Doctrine is just a tool for people to force their ideas where they are not popular. Would Telemundo and Univision like to be forced to broadcast in English because a large cross-section of Americans do not speak Spanish?"

>"Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992. For more information, contact David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org, or visit Project 21's website at www.project21.org/P21Index.html.