Can We Bring Back The Fairness Doctrine?

The Fairness Doctrine—sound familiar? Yeah, maybe not. It's been dead for a while now so I get it.

The Fairness Doctrine was a policy implemented by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It mandated that holders of broadcast licenses were obliged not just to present controversial topics of public interest, but to do so in a balanced manner that reflected both sides of the issue. It was an essential component of broadcasting regulation designed to guard against potential media bias, sowing the seeds for an informed, participative, and vibrant democracy. - quite a fair system, I'd say.

Initiated by the FCC in the late 1940s, the Fairness Doctrine made sure that the media didn't just convey a one-sided narrative, but instead offered a balanced viewpoint. They essentially had to provide "both sides of the story", particularly in political discourse, to maintain their broadcast licenses.  Imagine that—listening to the news and hearing both sides of an issue. Wild, huh?

However, by the 1980s, the FCC discarded this policy, claiming that the surge of media outlets would "naturally lead to a diversity of ideas". The surge of media outlets refers to the massive expansion of cable television at that time. This period marked the rise of several major networks, including CNN (founded in 1980), Fox (founded in 1986), and MSNBC (founded in 1996) that greatly diversified the media landscape. Furthermore, the emergence of the internet towards the end of the 1980s and into the 1990s added to this surge. This increased availability of varied content and perspectives was one of the biggest justifications used for the FCC's decision to remove the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, arguing it was no longer necessary to force coverage of conflicting viewpoints due to the growing number of media outlets.

This reasoning could be seen as overly optimistic at best, and at worst, a deeply harmful, long-term plan to cultivate a group of followers who would only believe one narrative because that's what they were told by their "trusted" news source.  To be fair, I have no data that suggests that the latter is true, but that's what we have nonetheless.  Say hello to the era of echo chambers, with media outlets firmly entrenched in their version of the 'truth' and consumers trapped in their own (often delusional) information bubbles.

Which brings me to my main point — we should bring back the Fairness Doctrine.