Henry Geller, once Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information (NTIA) in the Carter Administration and FCC General Counsel, wrote an interesting commentary for industry trade journal Broadcasting & Cable, where in he took FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell to task for recent warnings against the return of the Fairness Doctrine.
As Geller points out, the doctrine never required broadcasters “to air both sides of controversial issues” but required instead that they simply “afford a reasonable opportunity for contrasting views.”
He also accurately concluded that “it is most unlikely that the fairness doctrine will return as a matter of general policy.”
Nonetheless, right-wing websites continue to push the misguided notion that the Democrats” recent return to power means the Fairness Doctrine will return in an effort to “Hush Rush” and his fellow conservative talkers on the public airwaves…
