Sen Alexander blasts Fairness Doctrine, charges Dems with trying to revive it

SEN ALEXANDER BLASTS FAIRNESS DOCTRINE, CHARGES DEMS WITH TRYING TO REVIVE IT
[SOURCE: Nashville Business Journal, AUTHOR: ]
The broadcast media should not be subject to a federal law mandating "fairness," says Sen. Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. Sen Alexander made the remarks at a meeting of the National Religious Broadcasters who are in Nashville this week for the group's 2008 convention. Sen Alexander was targeting the Fairness Doctrine, a federal policy that mandated an opposing political response to on-air opinions, which at one time regulated the airwaves until 1987, when President Ronald Reagan suspended the rule. "The idea that government should dictate what views are aired on radio or television stations is an affront to our country's centuries-old belief in the importance of a free and independent press," Alexander says. "The so-called Fairness Doctrine is, in fact, an unconstitutional infringement on freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and Democrats should stop trying to use the heavy hand of government to silence their critics on talk radio."
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2008/03/10/daily15.html?ana...