The Fairness Doctrine

The Fairness Doctrine was introduced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1949. It required talk radio stations to air both sides of controversial issues. This was to expose viewers to a variety of viewpoints. But, according to Brian Jennings (author of Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio) and many other conservative talk radio hosts, talk radio's popularity plummeted. In light of the threat of talk radio coming off the air forever, President Ronald Reagan revoked the Fairness Doctrine on August of 1987, along with a unanimous 4-0 vote from the FCC. It was "formally revoked" in June of 2011. There have been several attempts to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine.