The Fairness Doctrine

Liberals such as senator Dianne Feinstein want to bring back the fairness doctrine. The fairness doctrine would require radio stations to give equal time to liberal and conservative commentators. Since radio is the one media medium which conservatives dominate, the fairness doctrine could potentially reduce the quantity of conservative commentaries.

But I suspect that in our iPod age a reinvented fairness doctrine would have little potency. Imagine that the fairness doctrine has been reenacted and if a radio station plays Rush Limbaugh for three hours it must also pay to broadcast liberal Al Franken for three hours. Alas, few people want to listen to Al Franken, so in response to the fairness doctrine radio stations might stop playing Rush.

Now, 10 years ago this would mean fewer listeners for Rush. But today if Rush were shut out of markets in which there was a large demand for his voice, he would probably respond by pushing his Podcast in these markets. As a result, the Fairness Doctrine wouldn't so much silence Rush as it would cause people to switch from radio to iPod.