NAB Gives Obama Shout-Out For Fairness Stand
Rehr writes to president thanking him reiterating his opposition to doctrine
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/25/2009 4:47:53 PM
The National Association of Broadcasters wrote President Barack Obama Tuesday thanking him for reiterating his opposition to the reinstatement of the fairness doctrine.
"On behalf of [NAB], I am writing to express our gratitude to you for the Feb. 18 statement," wrote NAB President David Rehr. "At a time when the challenges that face our country require vigorous debate and discussion, our nation's TV and radio broadcasters provide a rich diversity of viewpoints from all sides of the political spectrum," said Rehr. "Any attempts to re-impose the Fairness Doctrine would harm, not help, this diversity by discouraging the robust exchange of ideas and opinions."
That came after a statement from the White House last week that the president did not support the doctrine's return.
During the campaign, candidate Obama twice indicated to B&C through an aide that he was not a fan of the doctrine and that he considered the debate "a distraction from the conversation we should be having about opening up the airwaves and modern communications to as many diverse viewpoints as possible."
But after several high-profile Democrats indicated their support for its return in some form, and a top Obama aide declined comment saying that issues would be left to the President and presumptive FCC chairman nominee Julius Genachowski to discuss the White House decided to weigh in.
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What about the "backdoor" version of the Fairness Doctrine that is making its expedited way through Congress? You know, the one that ramps up localism expectations, even one that are already codified, is a very thinly-disguised attempted to limit syndicated shows on local AM radio. Surely the NAB is not so stupid to ignore the clever regulators. Why would new laws be needed if old local standards exist?
DF - 3/2/2009 7:43:19 PM EST -
Being fair and balance is what Bill O'Reilly does on Fox. It's true, media orchrestrate's there ability to be liberal. It's a good reason for congress to show-off these idea's by using media, which is already liberal anyway. The problems is people depend on media.
Thomas - 2/27/2009 1:06:30 PM EST -
The old "fairness doctrine" was anything but fair. I believe the air waves should reflect the freedom of speech that our constitution provides. Presently, the major media is largely on the liberal side. The heavily right-wing dominated talk shows help to give an appropriate balance to the liberal advantage in the media. I hope President Obama will continue to resist anything that resembles the old "fairness doctrine."
James B. Hartline - 2/26/2009 11:29:02 AM EST
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