Air Commands.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Elements of fairness doctrine rescinded - Brief Article

You may have heard that the Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to provide balanced coverage of controversial topics, was abolished 14 years ago. Not quite.

In 1987 the Federal Communications Commission concluded that the requirement, first officially enunciated in the 1940s, had deterred TV and radio stations from dealing with issues of public concern: Broadcasters had steered clear of controversial discussions and provocative commentary because they were worried about possible disciplinary action. The FCC also noted that the proliferation of media outlets had made a legal mandate for diversity of viewpoints obsolete.

But the commission continued to enforce two narrower rules that posed similar threats to freedom of speech: the "political editorial rule," which required stations that criticized a candidate or endorsed his opponent to let him respond on the air, and the "personal attack rule," which gave the same right to individuals or groups whose "honesty...