No Fairness Doctrine Essay

A Divided America Due To A No Fairness Doctrine Media

The media plays a major role on the American voter which can be for the good or the bad of the country. Although Americans have become even more divided due to how we receive our news and information. The dearth of equal representation of political views has divided Americans far more than any other factor when it comes to politics. Americans used to get their news and information through newspapers, the radio and local television stations. The internet is a relatively new dating back to the mid-1990’s when the American citizens gained access to it. The internet was initially used for emails and discussion forms which were called Usenet. The World Wide Web was launched in the mid 1990’s. Today we have the internet and cable news outlets which has allowed for the dissemination of information through various means be it video, internet websites

The Constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine runs the gamut of being Unconstitutional to being Constitutional. People like Senator Durbin feels that an informed American that hears both sides is a smart American voter. The Supreme Court ruled in 1969 of the Constitutionality of the Fairness Doctrine framed it by writing “It is the right of the viewers and the listeners, not the right of the broadcasters that is paramount” they found that money does not equate to free speech, nor should money drown out other voices.
Others feel that the Fairness Doctrine restricted free speech and the Supreme Court ruled in 1984 that was opposite of their previous ruling in 1969 ruling finding “[W]ere it to be shown by the Commission that the fairness doctrine [has] the net effect of reducing rather than enhancing speech, we would then be forced to reconsider the constitutional basis of our decision in [Red Lion]”. SC