McClatchy: Congress braces for fight over Fairness Doctrine

[PleaseBlitz]

the us government actually OWNS the electromagnetic spectrum that broadcast tv and radio travel over. that how the legislate it. they have much less authority over cable tv and newspapers.

I dont buy that reasoning at all.

[Rumrunner6900]

"n your case Hog, I would agree, they agree with you. . . but to the uneducated Southerner, it is a different story. What the right managed to do was to get people to vote against their better interests through radio and Fox News. There is absolutely no reason Joe Six Pack making $12/hr at the local coal mine should be voting for a ®, but Joe Six Pack hears all day long how the liberals are the ruin of the world, and he believes the stuff."

Wow.

The bigotry of the left on display.

Yes indeed....how does it feel up there on your high horse?

Joe Six Pack is smarter than you think. Joe Six Pack works his ass off for that 12 bucks an hour and won't vote for a liberal, b/c he wants to keep as much of that money as possible in his own pocket.

[TMK9973]

Talk about a NON issue.

Here's the best part of the article....

No one has yet introduced legislation to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. But before Congress left town for its weeklong July 4 break, the House passed an amendment to a federal spending bill that would block all funding for implementation of the Fairness Doctrine

So no one has introduced it, laws have been past stopping any funding for it. Talk radio has built a boggy man to rally against. Meanwhile, no one has done anything.

NON ISSUE!!!!

[Teller]

In your case Hog, I would agree, they agree with you. . . but to the uneducated Southerner, it is a different story. What the right managed to do was to get people to vote against their better interests through radio and Fox News. There is absolutely no reason Joe Six Pack making $12/hr at the local coal mine should be voting for a ®, but Joe Six Pack hears all day long how the liberals are the ruin of the world, and he believes the stuff.

I think that the assumption that Southerners are uneducated is in itself unfair. I'm not going to say that the "southern drawl" doesn't carry with it a negative stereotype. It does. I'm just saying that assuming someone who speaks that way is stupid is a mistake. It's also a mistake to assume that coal miners, construction workers and electricians aren't some of the most practically intelligent people in the country. Some may not be "book smart," but when it comes to real-world knowledge, many of them are ahead of us. My own father is a perfect example.

And if it's true that conservative radio sways the less educated, then you also have to grant me that NBC's Nightly News starting every night with, "More allegations of coverups by the Bush White House," or "Senate Republicans stalling reform" has the same effect. And if you want fairness in radio, then we're going to need exactly three more conservatively biased TV networks.

Not all of America fall for the stuff, and there are many, like yourself, who are just conservative. . .but. . .there are also a number of uninformed voters who vote outside of their best interest because they believe the BS the radio and tv throws at them. . .

Serious question. Does this work the other way? Do readers of the Washington Post get indoctrinated into liberal think? Do CBS viewers learn their left-bias from what they watch? Or is it just my brothers and sisters on the right (thank you for excluding me) who are too stupid to think for themselves.

if you don't acknowledge this is going on, then you really need to reevaluate your position. . .

This is my biggest gripe with liberals. If I don't agree with your position, I must be wrong. (See also: global warming.) Come on, chom. Two educated people can disagree, without making such a finite judgement.

And like I said, if you believe this is true on the right, is not also true on the left with CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, WP, NYT, etc, etc, etc.

one more thing, this is different than saying poor people voting democrat is against their better interest, because the democrats are the ones that actually fight for the rights of the poor. Their systems my be ass backwards, which I tend to agree with, but you can't deny their side of the fight

I could debate this with you all afternoon, but we'd go so far off topic, it you wouldn't be able to see it with one of those fancy telescopes you build.

[Midnight Judges]

The fairness doctrine doesn´t have a snowball´s chance. Somedbody needs to advise Trent Lott: if he can just bite his tongue on this issue it will be a big winner for Republicans. People simply don´t want it.

It is hard for me to believe AM radio is 91% Republican just for demand.

[PleaseBlitz]

Talk about a NON issue.

Here's the best part of the article....

No one has yet introduced legislation to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. But before Congress left town for its weeklong July 4 break, the House passed an amendment to a federal spending bill that would block all funding for implementation of the Fairness Doctrine

So no one has introduced it, laws have been past stopping any funding for it. Talk radio has built a boggy man to rally against. Meanwhile, no one has done anything.

NON ISSUE!!!!

Its the offseason, what do you expect? :laugh:

<Insert Brunell joke here.>

[Burgold]

Talk about a NON issue.

Here's the best part of the article....

No one has yet introduced legislation to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. But before Congress left town for its weeklong July 4 break, the House passed an amendment to a federal spending bill that would block all funding for implementation of the Fairness Doctrine

So no one has introduced it, laws have been past stopping any funding for it. Talk radio has built a boggy man to rally against. Meanwhile, no one has done anything.

NON ISSUE!!!!

Sure, leave us nothing to talk about! Spoilsport :rant:

[Rumrunner6900]

I think that the assumption that Southerners are uneducated is in itself unfair. I'm not going to say that the "southern drawl" doesn't carry with it a negative stereotype. It does. I'm just saying that assuming someone who speaks that way is stupid is a mistake. It's also a mistake to assume that coal miners, construction workers and electricians aren't some of the most practically intelligent people in the country. Some may not be "book smart," but when it comes to real-world knowledge, many of them are ahead of us. My own father is a perfect example.

And if it's true that conservative radio sways the less educated, then you also have to grant me that NBC's Nightly News starting every night with, "More allegations of coverups by the Bush White House," or "Senate Republicans stalling reform" has the same effect. And if you want fairness in radio, then we're going to need exactly three more conservatively biased TV networks.

Serious question. Does this work the other way? Do readers of the Washington Post get indoctrinated into liberal think? Do CBS viewers learn their left-bias from what they watch? Or is it just my brothers and sisters on the right (thank you for excluding me) who are too stupid to think for themselves.

This is my biggest gripe with liberals. If I don't agree with your position, I must be wrong. (See also: global warming.) Come on, chom. Two educated people can disagree, without making such a finite judgement.

And like I said, if you believe this is true on the right, is not also true on the left with CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, WP, NYT, etc, etc, etc.

I could debate this with you all afternoon, but we'd go so far off topic, it you wouldn't be able to see it with one of those fancy telescopes you build.

I love the dichotomy...you are a closed-minded, hick, redneck, stupid, dumbass if you don't agree totally with the open-minded, enlightened liberal.

And I agree with the rest of your post...as always, you speak the enlightened truth.

[Fergasun]

No one has initiated legislation save Mike Pence and other Republicans. In fact in the House their legislation that stops the FCC from invoking the Fairness Doctrine passed something like 300-130.

And it doesn't really matter anyway, because in 5-10 years even the big talkers like Rush will be in trouble due to Podcasts or even Blogcasting. In fact, if they were smart they would offer PodCasts (although I've been getting Savage and Ingraham in that format since the beginning of the year, as well as my local hosts).

[Mass_SkinsFan]

Ok, so that means that talk radio is pandering to their listeners instead of challenging them to think differently. Here's something I learned since I've been in school; if you listen to people who think exactly like you think then you're never going to learn.

Here's something I learned a long time ago... Nobody is ever going to change my mind, so why waste my time listening to somebody saying things that I'm not going to agree with and are just going to piss me off.

[Teller]

I love the dichotomy...you are a closed-minded, hick, redneck, stupid, dumbass if you don't agree totally with the open-minded, enlightened liberal.

And I agree with the rest of your post...as always, you speak the enlightened truth.

I certainly wouldn't say "always" but I appreciate the kind words, my friend.

[AsburySkinsFan]

Here's something I learned a long time ago... Nobody is ever going to change my mind, so why waste my time listening to somebody saying things that I'm not going to agree with and are just going to piss me off.

Yeah, those pesky people out there with different opinions who may well be more educated and better informed than us sure are a pain in the @$$ for those of us who already know everything eh, MSF? :doh:

[Mass_SkinsFan]

Yeah, those pesky people out there with different opinions who may well be more educated and better informed than us sure are a pain in the @$$ for those of us who already know everything eh, MSF? :doh:

I've generally found the more "educated" and "informed" people are the less they comprehend the difference between Right and Wrong, Asbury. Once an individual has lost the ability to comprehend the difference between those two concepts and the FACT that they are more important than anything else out there, their opinions lose all value in my mind.... regardless of what they have to back them up.