Happy Anniversary! Thirty-One (31) years ago today...
Aug. 4th, 1987. The day Ronald Reagan killed The Fairness Doctrine:
Mr. Driftglass...:
"The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was — in the Commission's view — honest, equitable, and balanced. The FCC, which was believed to have been under pressure from then President Ronald Reagan, eliminated the Doctrine in 1987.
For the record, the two federal judges who helped Reagan kill the Fairness Doctrine were future-Supreme Court incubus Antonin Scalia, and disgraced Nixon henchman, Robert Bork. After helping to hold down the Fairness Doctrine while Reagan smothered it, both men went on to enjoy long and fruitful careers as wingnut icons and ruiners of American democracy.
And right on its heels came Hate-Radio™.
Read the whole thing. Driftglass does it much better than me. (And if you have not read him, you should; he's really good. And if you visit and like what he writes, send him some love in the form of a donation.)
http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2017/06/in-beginning.html