WASHINGTON – “If Democrats retain control of both houses of Congress and capture the presidency in 2008, the Fairness Doctrine will be back – this time as the Law of The Land,” said veteran talk-radio host and WorldNetDaily Editor and CEO Joseph Farah.
In addressing the 2008 Conservative Political Action Conference, Farah went on to note:
“Hillary would sign it in a flat second. So would Obama. Do you know for certain that John McCain – what he will do if he’s sitting in the White House?”
“I don’t. But it’s time to find out.”
Farah evoked loud applause from the audience when he recalled:
“On June 19, 1987, President Ronald Reagan vetoed a bipartisan bill overwhelmingly approved in both the House and the Senate that would have, for the first time, made the Fairness Doctrine a matter of law, not just a guideline for regulatory agency.”
In doing so, Reagan said:
“The framers of the First Amendment, confident that public debate would be freer and healthier, without the kind of interference represented by the Fairness Doctrine, chose to forbid such regulation in the clearest terms: ‘Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.'”
Farah went on to recall:
“How many of you can remember what the media world looked like two decades ago?
“In 1987, three major broadcast networks presented the semi-official newscasts. You could choose between ABC, CBS and NBC. But there was really no choice at all.
“All three evening newscasts were remarkably similar – almost as if they were produced by the same team.
“There was no talk radio, to speak of, in 1987. The AM dial was moribund.
“Programmers dared not deal with controversial topics – for fear they would have to provide the government-mandated balance from opposing views.
“That made for bad programming and lots of red tape and expense. So radio stations simply avoided controversies – sticking to news, traffic, commercial programming. Safe stuff.”
Then he described the effect of the so-called “Fairness Doctrine”:
“A policy of the Federal Communications Commission from 1949 to 1987, it required radio and television stations to air all sides of important controversial issues and give equal time to candidates running for office.
“It had been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“In 1986, a federal appeals court recognized the obvious: that the Fairness Doctrine was not a law and could be overturned without congressional approval.
“How did Congress respond?
“Both houses passed legislation instituting the Fairness Doctrine – three-to-one support in the House of Representatives, two-to-one in the Senate.
“But President Reagan – God bless him – knew better. He vetoed it, and Congress did not override the veto.”
Later in this address, Farah of WorldNetDaily – which has an audience of 8 million – recalled:
“Whereas there were some 75 talk shows on radio stations across America in 1980 – by 1999 there were 1,300. …
“Something else was triggered by the explosion of voices on talk radio: new voices on another medium. Within eight years of scrapping the Fairness Doctrine and six years of the debut of Rush Limbaugh, another major media voice arose: Matt Drudge. Within two years, an even decade since the death of the Fairness Doctrine, WorldNetDaily.com was born. None of this would have happened (applause) without Ronald Reagan’s initiative. … Reagan’s insightful and inspired struggle touched off the New Media Revolution (which) is his cultural godchild. … He had worked in radio and television for much of his life.”
On the other hand, noted Farah:
“The 2009 Congress is going to be even more eager to muzzle talk radio than is the present Congress.”
Early in his presentation Farah told the conference:
“You might remember an effort by Harry Reid and 40 other members of the U.S. Senate who wrote a letter to Rush Limbaugh’s network demanding he apologize for something he never said.
“In this brazen power play, Rush of course acquitted himself as well as he always does, making a monkey out of Harry Reid. …
“I am here to warn you what will become of the First Amendment next January if the Democrats control both houses of Congress, and if Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama becomes president.
“And it’s not just talk radio that is threatened – it is the First Amendment.”
“This attack by Reid and the Democrats in the Senate was a shot across the land by an arrogant group of petty, wannabe tyrants, who would – if they could – use the coercive power of the state to stifle all dissenting views.
“Many of you are too young to remember the way the IRS coincidentally audited virtually everyone who was critical of the Clintons during their reign of terror.
“They got away with it, as they got away with so much.
“These people are ruthless and they are determined to consolidate their power when they get it. …
“They want a monopoly on the media. They had it once – and they got spoiled. They decided they can’t live without it anymore.
“So here’s the plan: Come January 2009 and Hillary Clinton is in the White House and Harry Reid is still running the Senate; Nancy Pelosi is still cleaning the House (laughter) they are going to pass a law bringing back the so-called Fairness Doctrine.
“The Fairness Doctrine, in theory, mandated a balance of opposing views on radio and television airwaves. But in reality what it meant was politicians and the government meddling in broadcast programming – resulting in bland non-controversial shows and the near-death experience of AM radio … (as a result of) this dreaded freedom-killing initiative.
“They want control. They want the media to dance to their tune. They want media lapdogs. And that’s what they’ll get, they think, if they bring back the Fairness Doctrine.
“If they’re successful in attacking talk radio with the Fairness Doctrine, there will be no stopping these people.
“Broadcast will be first. Then they will go after the Internet with taxes and new regulations and hate crime laws. And when they succeed in muzzling dissenting voices there, they’ll even turn to print. …
“Talk radio’s been pretty rough on John McCain in this campaign. And a question is: Will he be able to put that behind himself?
“Will he be able to move on? …
“Remember Trent Lott’s warning last year that something needs to be done about talk radio?
“Big surprise. He supported making the Fairness Doctrine the law of the land in 1987. John McCain voted along with him.
“How about Newt Gingrich? He championed legislating the Fairness Doctrine 20 years ago. Jesse Helms supported it then, too. … Ronald Reagan alone stood up to the Fairness Doctrine.”
Related special offer:
“Stop the Presses: The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution”
‘Convicted felon’ readies to take the oath
Byron York