We would have bet cash money that we had heard the last of the periodic Fairness Doctrine alarms when the FCC finally took it off the books officially in 2011, thanks in part to the dogged determination of then-commissioner Robert McDowell. The doctrine required broadcasters to actively seek out and offer airtime to the other side of a controversial issue if they gave airtime to one side. It had not been enforced since 1987, but was still on the books. Republicans long feared it would be invoked by Democrats looking to crack down on conservative talkers, especially since Democrats had periodically invoked it in an effort to do just that. Now the cry has gone up again, from House Communications Subcommittee members who don't like the sound of the FCC's planned study of "critical information needs" of communities.
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