STAR PARKER COMMENTARY: Let The Fairness Doctrine Rest In Peace

Asseerts the conservative Republican commentator, about an effort to revive a government action: "The Pew Research Center reports that in 2006 15 percent of Americans used the Internet as their primary source of political news, double that of the 2002 elections. In additional Pew research on media usage, those surveyed were presented with 16 alternative sources of news. Results show that, of those most informed, all use more than one source. Half of those most informed use seven different sources. So if the openness and competitiveness of the information market today is so clear, with cable, satellite and the Internet in addition to broadcast media, why are we talking now about the Fairness Doctrine? There appears to be two immediate sources of provocation. One, a number of senators are unhappy about the defeat of the recent immigration legislation and blame the setback on conservative talk-radio hosts....Second, a new paper published by the left-of-center Center for American Progress in Washington sends out the red alert that most of talk radio today is conservative. According to them, it's 91 percent. But they themselves note that the Fairness Doctrine is pretty meaningless, and they want more aggressive federal intervention in issuing and managing local broadcast licenses."

Ms. Parker continues her commentary: "Conservatives have not flourished in the talk-radio medium because of some anticompetitive stranglehold on this marketplace. Lots of attention has been given to the failure of the left-wing Air America. It was well-financed and had plenty of opportunity to make it. This was pure marketplace failure. Conservative talk radio works because talk radio is a medium of the mind and of thinking and discourse. This works well for conservative and free-market ideas, which get sold on thought and logic. Liberals will resent this assertion, but the liberal message is emotional, not logical. This is why it doesn't work on talk radio. Liberalism operates by provoking emotions such as guilt, fear and envy. This works in sound bites and visual media, but not on talk radio."