Freedom of Speech

[Towntalk]

Unfortunately the bulk of our news comes from cable news channels.

CNN ... MSNBC ... Headline News ... CNBC ... Fox

NBC ... CBS ... ABC basically are entertainment networks that provide a half hour nightly newscast plus five minute newscasts during their morning shows, and a Sunday morning interview, and of course a weekly show like 60 Minutes and Nightline.

What's so interesting is that the attacks by liberals is against talk radio alleging that the bulk of radio talk shows are conservative which is wrong.

Talkers Magazine, the Bible of talk radio on its web site lists all the radio talk shows covering every catagory, and if people like Dennis would consult that list and lobby for shows that suit them and get a sufficient number of people to join them in a letter writing campaign to WGFT and WASN maby they could get shows here that meet their needs and standards.

I doubt though that Dennis would exert sufficient energy to follow up even though I maintain a link to the publication on my web site.

[AllanY2525]

Cable should not be subject to such a doctrine, where "private" broadcasts are concerned...

To put it in the words of a comedian I saw doing stand-up one night: 

"SH*T you can say any fu**ing thing on HBO... it's HBO"

I agree with TownTalk on the "News broadcast" versus "Editorial" content.
The Constitution of the United States of America provides protections for
both freedom of speech, and for freedom of "the press".

These laws protect the folks we like, and those we dislike - even though
their views and opinions (and yes, folks -their language too) may be
in disagreement with ours, or even offensive to us.

In order to be fair and unprejudiced, this must be the way things are done,
to guarantee "Liberty and Justice for all", and "the pursuit of happiness".

[Towntalk]

And MSNBC ... CNN ... NBC ... CBS ... ABC ... CNBC should say that they come from the left.

I'm sick and tired of left wing folks yammering for restrictions that they flatly refuse to apply to themselves.

I'm not a right wing wacko ala Rush Limbaugh and in fact I'm a registered Democrat who unlike many Democrats believe that the Bill of Rights means exactly what it says, and since no one puts a gun to my head and forces me to listen only to one side of an issue, I'm not going to do it to others who may not agree with me.

Remember one thing ... no one puts a litmus test to who will or will not pay the taxes that puts bread and meat on your table Dennis, and by God, you accept the money that comes into your home gladly, and I suspect a hefty chunk of that money comes out of the pockets of the right wingers you despise.

The Constitution is there for all Americans whether they come from the left or right and since the founding of our great nation hundreds of thousand of Americans have bled and died to preserve it for all Americans, and not just those who agree with you.

[irishbobcat]

Then Fox should change their logo from FOX NEWS TO FOX RIGHT WING OPINIONS>>>>>>>

[Rick Rowlands]

The first amendment states "Congress shall make no law".  Sounds pretty cut and dried to me.  Perhaps they should also have added the word regulation, since technically the Fairness Doctrine doesn't result from a law but from regulators.

[Towntalk]

Glen Beck; Rush Limbaugh; and the other radio talkers ARE NOT news casts, they are OPINION programs that rely on legitamate news sources for their content, and this is a big distinction.

In the print media, the Editorials ARE NOT NEWS but opinion just as are  "analysis" articles that appear in the news section, and express the OPINION of the author.

CNN has a number of programs that are NOT streight newscasts ... The Situation Room ... AC360 ... Larry King ... among them.

Meet The Press ... Face The Nation ... This Week are INTERVIEW programs and NOT streight news casts.

90% of the content of MSNBC are OPINION and certainly the most liberal of all the cable networks.

When you take into account the total daily programming on the "News" cable channels MSNBC and CNN have more liberal content than Fox has in a week.

As for ABC ... CBS ... NBC ... 90% of their programming is pure entertainment and sports, yet we don't hear a peep out of liberals about the fact that liberals dominate television. All we hear about is complaints about Fox.

Should not the fairness doctrine also apply to Cable channels?

Is this what we want in America:

A board of censorship should be established at the federal level within the FCC that would be independent of any and all Supreme Court authority made up of a panel of five persons appointed by President Obama who would serve a life term and be independent of any Congressional oversight.

This board would have authority over AM – FM – HD Radio; Television both over the air and Cable, and their word would be final.

The board would have control of both programming and content, and no program may be broadcast or telecast without prior review of the board. News and Sports programs as well as music would need no prior review.

[irishbobcat]

When  you had a Fairness Doctrine...you got news........not propaganda posing as news........I know....I worked in the radio business 35 years ago  when broadcasters had to follow the Doctrine and present both sides of the issues......not let Glen beck spout off about birthers and other far right
issues which were way out in right field.......

[sfc_oliver]

Seems to me the Fairness Doctrine is unconstitutional, If people wanted to listen to a left leaning radio station then they could have, before it went belly up, due to lack of listeners.

[Towntalk]

Yesterday (Wednesday Nov. 11) Lou Dobbs announced that he was leaving CNN effective immediately after his program was over, and the news was hailed by "progressives", and a certain group announced that now that they silenced him on CNN they would continue to silence him on his radio program.

"Progressives" have been working to silence every conservative voice both on radio and television so that all we would be able to hear is their side of every issue critical issue facing America.

Nancy Pelosi has made it clear that she wants the "Fairness Doctrine" reinstituted, and while all that it would do is require both sides of issues to be presented, critics stress that what it will do is force radio and television stations to drop talk shows because of the expenses involved.

The Fairness Doctrine requires that in dealing with an issue that the station at its own expense seek out advocates taking opposing views to counter the position of the guest or host, and it goes much further. The station would be required to preserve the show on tape and in a log which would be sent to the FCC as well as be made available to the general public.

The print media is immune to a print media fairness doctrine since such a doctrine would be un-Constitutional.

The question is why should the electronic news media be held to a standard that can not be applied to the print media?