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Squawks Over Move To Re-Regulate Talk Radio

  • Fox News, Thursday, June 28, 2007 11:16 AM

Some right-wing lawmakers are squawking over the possibility of a reversal of federal rules that currently allow talk radio to broadcast one side of an issue without an opposing viewpoint. And one of them -- Indiana Republican Mike Pence -- intends to introduce a bill that could prevent any future president or the Federal Communications Commission from bringing back the "Fairness Doctrine," a rule revoked in 1985 that was aimed at fostering political balance on publicly airwaves.

"There's nothing fair about the Fairness Doctrine," claims Pence, himself a former radio host. And bringing it back "would amount to nothing more than government control over political views expressed on the public awareness, and it must not be allowed to occur."

Pence is attempting to preempt possible moves by the new Democratic majority to reinstate the requirement. Among them is Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who believes Americans want to hear opposing viewpoints. "It's time to re-institute the Fairness Doctrine," Durbin tells The Hill newspaper. "I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they're in a better position to make a decision."

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