stefan segal
01-20-2007, 03:20 PM
http://www.callahansclevelanddiary.com/?p=171
Kucinich wants to look at reviving Fairness Doctrine
TV Week:
The Ohio congressman was formally named on Wednesday to head the Domestic Policy panel of the House Government Reform Committee. Even before that announcement was made, Rep. Kucinich raised some eyebrows when he told a media reform conference in Memphis that his panel would hold hearings on reviving the Fairness Doctrine and on media ownership issues.
“Yes absolutely, we’re going to get that,” Rep. Kucinich said at the conference, according to a report from Drew Clark of the Center for Public Integrity.
The congressman also said in Memphis that he would hold “hearings to push media reform right at the center of Washington” and he criticized attempts to undo the cross-ownership ban that prevents a newspaper and broadcaster from buying each other.
“The urgency of media reform has never been more obvious,” he was quoted as saying. “The media has become a servant of very narrow corporate interests.”
The Fairness Doctrine, adopted in 1949 by the FCC and generally abandoned during the Reagan administration in the 1980s, required stations airing information on controversial issues of public importance to offer contrasting points of views. From the 1970s to the early 1980s it was interpreted as also requiring stations that presented attacks or criticism to seek out and provide equal time for the other side. Any plans to revive it would likely spark a major fight with broadcasters.
In the PD story yesterday DJK said he wants to hold some of the committee’s hearings in Cleveland. I can’t think of a regulatory issue with more Northeast Ohio relevance than broadcast media ownership and access. Bring it on home, Dennis!
This entry was posted on Friday, January 19th, 2007
Kucinich wants to look at reviving Fairness Doctrine
TV Week:
The Ohio congressman was formally named on Wednesday to head the Domestic Policy panel of the House Government Reform Committee. Even before that announcement was made, Rep. Kucinich raised some eyebrows when he told a media reform conference in Memphis that his panel would hold hearings on reviving the Fairness Doctrine and on media ownership issues.
“Yes absolutely, we’re going to get that,” Rep. Kucinich said at the conference, according to a report from Drew Clark of the Center for Public Integrity.
The congressman also said in Memphis that he would hold “hearings to push media reform right at the center of Washington” and he criticized attempts to undo the cross-ownership ban that prevents a newspaper and broadcaster from buying each other.
“The urgency of media reform has never been more obvious,” he was quoted as saying. “The media has become a servant of very narrow corporate interests.”
The Fairness Doctrine, adopted in 1949 by the FCC and generally abandoned during the Reagan administration in the 1980s, required stations airing information on controversial issues of public importance to offer contrasting points of views. From the 1970s to the early 1980s it was interpreted as also requiring stations that presented attacks or criticism to seek out and provide equal time for the other side. Any plans to revive it would likely spark a major fight with broadcasters.
In the PD story yesterday DJK said he wants to hold some of the committee’s hearings in Cleveland. I can’t think of a regulatory issue with more Northeast Ohio relevance than broadcast media ownership and access. Bring it on home, Dennis!
This entry was posted on Friday, January 19th, 2007