(iverson's) currentbuzz: Who owns the Public airwaves?

The Fairness doctrine makes the news again. I talked to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Friday and thanked him for his support of the Fairness Doctrine, though what he did was less support than just making sure that Fairness could be revisited when a less partisan administration comes to power.

The issue here is that broadcast belongs to the public, it is a common good. So like Grand Canyon or highways, it should be reserved for public, not commercial use. The Fairness Doctrine assured that whoever "owned" the broadcast mechanisms and had the money or access to the public space, they would have to allow balance of opinions. That meant if you had issue programs, you had to air a set of opinions. Without Fairness, the owner of the broadcast mechanism can simply hog it and just put on whatever opinion they are paid to put on, or choose to put on.

Imagine driving on the highway and being stopped by the police and told that only Chevys could use the highway. Or having a traffic control system that let Toyotas use 3 fast lanes, and all other cars had to squeeze into one slow lane. It isn't fair because we all pay for the highways which are a public good. The airwaves should be the same.

People don't like that iPhone only works with AT&T service because we are used to the phone wires and transmission system being one service and the messages that are carried on the phone system are separate from the conduit and transmission system itself. Why isn't broadcast like this? The power of the airwaves is demonstrated by the hold that the corporate broadcasters have over our congress people. They are able to dominate civic, public discourse unfairly. Ideally this issue will be discussed again and in a congress where elected representatives thought for themselves and weren't just bought by big money. This is an issue of democracy, access to multiple opinions and allowing the public to be educated rather than indoctrinated.

There’s little chance the fairness doctrine will return in the near future, as FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin publicly opposes it and the White House wrote to broadcasters last week assuring them that Bush would veto any legislation reinstating it. But the issue has renewed debate about how far the government should go in regulating the public airwaves.

Source: mediachannel.org