Page 57 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

F

FAIRNESS DOCTRINE. This most controversial policy of the Federal Com-
munications Commission (FCC) arose in 1949 out of a series of rulings on
broadcast editorializing. It died a political death in 1987 during the administra-
tion of President Ronald Reagan. The FCC had first banned broadcasters from
editorializing at all. When that proved unrealistic, the FCC established guidelines
in 1949 for stations it licensed. A twofold duty both to cover public affairs and
to seek opposing views was placed on licensees, requiring them to seek out and
provide free airtime for other opinions. Congress amended the Communications
Act in 1959 to specifically exempt news programs from the Fairness Doctrine.
The issue reached the Supreme Court in 1969 in Red Lion Broadcasting v.
FCC, and the Court ruled unanimously that the First Amendment rights of the
public as expressed in the Fairness Doctrine outweighed the First Amendment
rights of broadcasters. However, in 1974, the Court ruled in Tornillo v. Miami
Herald that print media had no such duty to carry opposing viewpoints. Broad-
casters then began to lobby for the same freedom to editorialize, arguing that
the Fairness Doctrine had a chilling effect on electronic journalists. In 1987, a
lower court ruling said that the Fairness Doctrine was not, in fact, law but rather
an administrative rule of the FCC. The FCC then took an action that has been
widely misreported. The FCC did not abolish or repeal the Fairness Doctrine.
It merely indicated it would no longer enforce it. It is still on the books and
could be enforced at any time the FCC wishes to do so. The Democratic Con-
gress did pass a bill making the Fairness Doctrine law, but Reagan vetoed the
bill.
SOURCES: Donald J. Jung, The Federal Communications Commission, the Broadcast
Industry, and the Fairness Doctrine, 1981-1987, 1996; Wayne Overbeck, Major Prin-
ciples of Media Law, 1997-1998, 1997 edition; Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC, 395 U.S.
367, 1969.
Marc Edge