Let Free Speech Continue to Ring

Recently many of our elected officials have gone on the record calling for a reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine. This idea essentially calls for equal coverage of both sides of political issues on the radio and the television. They justify this breach of the First Amendment by stating that radio and television signals are public property, and therefore subject to regulation of content by the federal government. Proponents of the Fairness Doctrine ignore the fact that radio and television stations are privately owned businesses with the right to express any opinion they choose.
The truth of the matter is, is that our elected officials are trying to silence the voices of criticism that exist on these medias. Privately owned entities are subject to the rules of the market place. They exist to fulfill a consumer desire. If consumers desired radio and television programs of the type that our elected officials desire, then those types of shows would already be the dominant feature of the industry. However, we all know that Rush Limbaugh and others like him virtually own the talk radio market. They are wildly successful because the market demands conservative radio hosts. Reinstatement of the fairness doctrine is nothing more than government sanctioned suppression of free speech targeted at the critics of the current administration and the majority political party. I am outraged that many of our elected officials are even considering this idea and you should be as well. I urge you to call your elected officials in Washington and tell them to stand against any attempt to regulate the content of politically oriented radio and television programming. If we do not stand up for our rights today we will surely lose them tomorrow.