Comments made by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., during an interview with Fox on Wednesday have prompted concerns whether a new Fairness Doctrine will be imposed on broadcast networks and talk radio, Broadcasting & Cable reports. Sen. Schumer told Fox the people who want the Federal Communications Commission to regulate “pornography” on the airwaves are inconsistent in not urging politically fair and balanced discourse on the same airwaves. Now with a newly elected, Democrat-controlled White House and Congress, opponents of a reinstated Fairness Doctrine are worried. However, despite Schumer’s comments, President-elect Barack Obama has told B&C via a top aide that he has no interest in a new Fairness Doctrine. In 1987, the FCC abandoned the doctrine, calling it unconstitutional. That move is largely responsible for the rise of conservative talk radio and for the successful careers of right-wing radio personalities such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, the publication says.
—Christopher Perez