We did it to ourselves.
Or, rather, as so many bad things done in and to our country in the past 30 years, at least, the Republicans did it to us:
Twenty-seven years ago this month, the Reagan administration eliminated the Fairness Doctrine, thus allowing American commercial talk-radio stations licensed over our public airwaves, to become shamelessly slanted towards the radical right. Just under a year later, Rush Limbaugh's radio program, originally based out of Sacramento, California, was syndicated nationally --- a falsehood factory that distributed its defective products to millions of customers.
Limbaugh was widely credited with ginning up the faux-outrage towards President Clinton that brought about the GOP's House and Senate victories in the 1994 midterms --- victories that ultimately led to the blocking of further gun-safety reforms, as (MSNBC's Steve) Kornacki noted. To this day, Limbaugh and his talk-radio imitators demonize any effort to keep Americans from dying prematurely from gun violence, and rhetorically assault politicians who advocate tough gun-safety measures.
Ever since that fateful month, we've had ugly, extremist reports, replete with subtle, no so subtle and blatant lies, all represented as "media" reports, "news", if you will. It's yet one more reason the American populace is so polarized. When you have the likes of, yes, Rush "Porkulus" Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and Bill O'Really, Ann "I'll Say Anything" Coulter and others, spewing out extremely emotional, one-sided stories, half-truths, untruths and, again, blatant lies, frequently with vitriol and/or anger or even tears, what result can we expect but that some people pick up those pieces and run with them, out here in the world?
And if someone eventually tries to reintroduce it to our government and nation--as they ought--it will be said it prohibits free speech and curbs First Amendment Rights.
Nonsense.
It merely requires, for every viewpoint or side taken, for an opposing view to be given, that's all. (See the link below for a fuller definition and description of the policy).
As we are today, this is not a good way to get good, important, solid, non-biased information out to the nation. This is no way to run media. It's no way to inform a populace.
As it is, it's no way to run a nation.
It won't happen easily, it won't happen without a fight but we need the Fairness Doctrine back.
We need it badly and we need it as soon as possible.
Here's hoping.
Link: Fairness Doctrine
Link to associated article: In This Present Crisis: How Ronald Reagan Killed 'Fairness' and Wounded the World
Link to associated article: In This Present Crisis: How Ronald Reagan Killed 'Fairness' and Wounded the World
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