Senate rejects fairness doctrine

I'm surprised the Senate passed a bill against the Fairness Doctrine. I figured the first thing this new party would want to do is censor Rush, Hannity, Howie Carr, and the other right wing hosts on the radio. It isn't enough that the liberals already control every other form of media but they also want to control the radio.

The Senate passed a Broadcaster Freedom Amendment to a D.C. voting rights bill on Thursday by a vote of 87-11. But Democrats countered with an amendment that seeks to promote “diversity” in media ownership.

The Broadcaster Freedom Amendment prevents the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, which would requires equal time for the expression of different political viewpoints on the public airwaves. Radio stations that run conservative talks shows, for example, would be required to allot equal time for liberal talk shows – or, more likely, stop airing the conservative shows altogether.

Critics of the Fairness Doctrine call it an assault on free speech. They say the government has no business deciding what constitutes fair political discourse.

On Thursday, Republican supporters of the Broadcaster Freedom Amendment said its passage “slammed the front door” on the Fairness Doctrine. But they admit their fight for free speech is not over.