@jsonitsac: Not only did ditching the Fairness Doctrine save AM radio, it gave it new life as a news/talk band and music moved to FM. There is no bill in committe in either house, nor has anyone talked about sponsoring such a bill.
THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE BOOGEYMAN
By Jay Bookman | Thursday, November 20, 2008, 11:38 AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Talk-radio hosts play their listeners as well as Yo Yo Ma plays the
cello, stroking a string and making their audience respond exactly
the way they want. It’s bizarre how easily they can manipulate people
who like to think of themselves as sturdy, independent-minded
Americans.
Nowhere is that more evident than in the fabricated right-wing
outrage about reimposition of the Fairness Doctrine. Under that long-
abandoned rule, radio and TV stations that use the public airways
were required to give equal time to various sides of every political
issue. The rule was well-intended, but in practical terms radio and
TV stations found it safer to avoid political discussion altogether
rather than risk running afoul of the law.
For that and other reasons, the Fairness Doctrine was abandoned more
than 20 years ago, a change that quickly led to the boom in right-
wing talk radio.
However, with Democrats in control of Congress and Barack Obama about
to become president, the maestros of talk radio are eager to take
advantage. They know that the more threatened their audience feels,
the higher their ratings get. And what better way to get their
listeners riled up than to claim that the Democrats are out to
silence talk radio itself, the medium that brings conservatives the
truth as they want to know it?
So for months, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others have been
warning their audiences that once in power, the Democrats plan to
bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Politicians such as Newt Gingrich
have joined the chorus, and the issue is now being cited as a
critical reason why Saxby Chambliss has to be re-elected to the
Senate. Right-wing pundits insist the issue will be part of Obama’s
agenda in his first 100 days in office.
But of course, it’s all made-up nonsense, backed by no evidence
whatsoever. In the current issue of the New Republic (subs. req.
online), Marin Cogan goes looking for those Democrats supposedly
plotting to kill talk radio but ends up empty handed.