A return to fairness

The article in the Perspective section of this paper was very interesting in its analysis of cable news. It primarily suggests that the rhetoric currently dividing this country started in the ’70s when the press and broadcasters started printing the lies of the Nixon administration before he resigned from the office of the presidency.

Though I appreciate the effort of the writer from The Washington Post, my memory of the evolution of cable news is a little different. There used to be the Fairness Doctrine, basically stating that if a broadcaster were to attack an individual of group or government official or give one side airtime that equal time had to be allowed for a rebuttal. In 1987 the Reagan administration did away with the Fairness Doctrine because many conservatives thought it was an infringement on the First Amendment, among many other issues and concerns. I see this as the primary reason that we have such opinionated radio and television talk shows. So now we get to live with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, who a friend of mine once referred to as a terrible waste of skin, and far too many opinionated “journalists” to mention here.

It is unfortunate that cable news, the Internet and radio are so full of hate and conspiracy that play to their audiences’ fears and suspicions. The other problem is that cable news is a 24-hour endeavor, and has to fill airwaves every minute of the news cycle so it has lowered itself to the likening of, shall we say, The Jerry Springer Show, to attract viewers. There is nothing more that modern viewers like than to see people fighting. Cheer for their side and boo the other. You might say that the real villain in all of this is the need to sell advertising. The more viewers, the more advertising dollars spent.

I don’t know if something like the Fairness Doctrine would help our civility, but it would sure be nice to see something done to curb all the hatred and divisiveness.

MICHAEL RADICE

Fayetteville