In October, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) told a conservative Albuquerque talker that he supported the Fairness Doctrine. "I would want this station and all stations to have to present a balanced perspective and different points of view," Bingaman said, "instead of always hammering away at one side of the political [spectrum]."
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is another lawmaker who has expressed an interest in bringing back the rules. Rep. Maurice D. Hinchey (D-N.Y.) has considered reintroducing a media ownership reform law, to try to expand and diversify control of radio and television outlets. But it's unclear whether that measure would include a Fairness Doctrine, as an earlier Hinchey proposal did.
Conservatives cite those comments in justifying their fears. But they also make a determined effort to ignore the politics of the moment.
Democrats like Bingaman have made it clear they do not view the Fairness Doctrine as politically feasible. They have cited numerous more urgent priorities for Democrats to address. And they have said they have no intention of forcing the issue.
As on many other issues, they want the new Obama administration to take the lead. And the president-elect, as a candidate last summer, said unequivocally that he did not support reimposing the Fairness Doctrine.
"He considers this debate to be a distraction from the conversation we should be having about opening up the airwaves and modern communication to as many diverse viewpoints as possible," said spokesman Michael Ortiz.
Several right-wing bloggers interpret that as mere Obama code and baldly assert that the Democrats will surely bring back the fairness rules to thwart their enemies on talk radio.
If the left wing is gearing up for such a push, I had trouble detecting it. A search of the liberal Daily Kos website turned up almost no mentions of the Fairness Doctrine. And the site's founder, Markos Moulitsas, said by e-mail Thursday that he sensed "zero impetus" to make the change.
"The right is using it as a straw man to build hysteria and opposition to the incoming Democratic administration and Congress," Moulitsas opined. "But there are zero serious efforts to make it happen."
Yes, conservatives dominate talk radio -- by one count controlling three-quarters of the programming. That might seem inherently unfair.
But liberals have found numerous outlets in other media, including websites like Daily Kos and Huffington Post, daytime programs like ABC's "The View," and nighttime cable shows like those hosted by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow.
What sense would it make to impose a government program to monitor all that broadcast blather, hour by hour? Wouldn't that provoke a constitutional challenge?
Yes, the 8th Amendment still prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
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james.rainey@latimes.com
