Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Unnatural Obsession With The Fairness Doctrine, Part 467

MediaMan, this Fairness Doctrine talk (such as it is) must really be scaring the crap out of the Corporate Media. Rasmussen actually saw fit to conduct a poll about it, and - quelle surprise! - they find that 'support' is 'dropping.' No, really. Michael Calderone over at Politico seems a bit confused, though.

In a new Rasmussen poll, 38 percent of respondents said "the government should require all radio stations to offer equal amounts of conservative and liberal political commentary," a nine percent drop from August. Forty-seven percent oppose such government requirements, and 15 percent are unsure.
Catch that? Calderone seems to have the Fairness Doctrine (which never dictated rules on the amount of ideological content on the airwaves, just issues of public interest) with the Equal Time Rule (which also never dictated content, but guaranteed that one political candidate would not have an unfair advantage in air time over another, but also had provisions that allowed broadcast outlets a pretty wide latitude in awarding air time).

First off, it's funny that anyone has been tracking public support for the Fairness Doctrine since last August, but I guess there are paranoid conservatives out there who must have started worrying about it once it became clear the Republicans Obstructionists were going to get their clocks cleaned in last November's elections.

But what bothers me more is that a poll conducted by a right-leaning polling outfit dealing with an issue that's being ginned up as a First Amendment issue by the likes of the Repulsive Pigboy and mental midget Sean Hannity doesn't even merit a clear understanding by 'pundits' like Michael Calderone - or even Rasmussen, which seems to have conflated the two rules in their poll.

No wonder people are misinformed about issues large and small in this country. The people who spoon out what they're supposed to think can't even be bothered to give them the straight dope.
 
http://www.blah3.com/article.php?story=20090216143109293
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