[White Doors]

Originally Posted by Lanny_MacDonald

Agencies not only used to try to remain impartial, but were forced to provide balance. It was law. The Fairness Doctrine made it so bothside had to have their interest represented in a story. If one side got a say, the other got equal time to respond. This was guaranteed by law. The Reagan admin was the one who killed the Fairness Doctrine. If there really was a bias in the media, and it was liberal, why would the Republicans kill the one law that guaranteed their voice? They wouldn't. Fact of the matter is that the media has always been centerist, because they were required to centerist. Only with the downfall of the Fairness Doctrine and the advent of the cable and new medias have we seen the center line (the medium political voice) shift to meet the arrival of the conservative CNN and then the extreme right wing FauxNews. The established media stayed right where they were, using the same policies and procedures they did for decades, and stradling a traditionally centerist position. Only the arrival of someone way off on the right did it make the traditional media seem biased to the left. Media bias is one of the biggest fabrications in the zeitgeist today, proof that if you repeat something enough it becomes fact in people's minds.

Well the 'fairness doctrine' doesn't sound like free speech to me.