1165 Fairness Doctrine

The greatest weakness of Capitalism is that everything is for sale, including our news. This has always been a problem but the vibrancy of market economics naturally inspired multiple newspapers in every town with opposing views to somewhat equally represent the political space. Unfortunately, another weakness of Capitalism, the concentration of wealth & power, inevitably allowed single organizations to dominate the narrative by buying all news outlets; not just newspapers, but radio & television too. To combat that, laws were passed, the so-called Fairness Doctrine, that prevented such blanket ownership, and when there was an inadvertent monopoly in a particular market, it required opposing arguments to be given somewhat equal coverage. This lead to the golden age of journalism, where the public trusted & respected the media. Regrettably, those few decades of Edwin R. Murrow-style honesty were a fluke, only possible because of government regulation. When the media was deregulated due to political machinations, the excesses of Capitalism were again unleashed, and the media became not only a laughingstock, but intensely dangerous. The Fairness Doctrine was not only fair, it was safe.