A 1959 amendment to the Communications Act of 1934 contained several provisions to ensure the maintenance of public interest, most notably Section 315(a) often called the Fairness Doctrine. Based on a 1949 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policy on broadcast editorializing, the Fairness Doctrine required that broadcasters provide a "reasonable percentage of time" for coverage of controversial public issues and “equal” opportunities for the presentation of different points of view.  In 1967, two corollary doctrines, the political editorial rule, and the personal attack rule were adopted.  

The Fairness Doctrine was upheld until 1986, when an appeals court said the doctrine did not have the force of law and the FCC could choose to enforce it or not. Although the FCC said they would continue to enforce the doctrine, they in fact did not, which prompted consumer groups to file a lawsuit against them. This time the FCC declared the doctrine to be against the public interest and thus decided it would not be enforced. In 1987 and 1989 Congress passed bills to make the Fairness Doctrine law: The first bill was vetoed by President Reagan, the second stalled because President George H. W. Bush threatened to veto it.  The political editorial and the personal attack rules were repealed in 2000.

 
This article is part of a series on 2005/2006 telecommunications legislative reform from the November/December 2005 issue of The Right of Way newsletter. 

Additional Resources:

"The Fairness Doctrine: How We Lost It, and Why We Need It" by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)

"Broadcasting Fairness Doctrine Promised Balanced Coverage"  by The Widsom Fund

"What Happened to Fairness?" by NOW with Bill Moyers

"Fairness Doctrine" by the Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC)

"Decline of Broadcasters' Public Interest Obligations, The: A Policy Backgrounder" (pdf), by New America Foundation