General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: There can no longer be any question that the Republican congress wants the end [View all]summer_in_TX
(2,735 posts)FOX has run a campaign against the Fairness Doctrine ever since it was repealed, especially when any Dem in Congress starts talking about it.
Back when Dennis Kucinich started talking about it, ABC, NBC, and CBS each had anywhere from zero to four mentions in their news programming. FOX News had 168. Did a paper on it for a Master's degree.
Besides that, I read a paper by the architect of the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine. He was with the American Enterprise Institute and wrote to describe the careful planning that went into how they brought it down. It had been highly popular everywhere. They created curricula for college journalism programs, coordinated Senate investigations into hardships caused by executive branch abuse of power, etc. Within a few years, journalism departments had renounced it as an infringement on freedom of speech.
I wish I though it was coming back. But we can do something. I'm brainstorming here.
Give everyone the right to respond when maligned.
Require public interest programming on all broadcast news platforms requiring a genuine discussion of issues in a fair way from across the political spectrum.
No platform that didn't regularly provide public interest programming could call itself news in its name or branding.
Require social media to have their algorithms be within acceptable ranges while being monitored, in exchange for continued freedom from being charged as publishers.
Expose the disinformation - maybe use AI detection and blast the info out (okay, that's a little out there)
Set up a private corporation funded by public funds to make grants to news organizations in areas that have lost their newspapers.
Pass strong laws restricting media conglomerates from cross ownership.
Pass laws that penalize hate speech on news outlets (call it the Rwanda genocide law)
Pass a law that requires truth in newscasts
Require Facebook to find a new CEO from a pool of people with higher levels of empathy and a commitment to democracy than Zuckerburg.
Begin a campaign based on Martha Minow's book "Saving the News" to educate Americans on the founders' belief in news and that they envisioned the press continuing to play its role to keep our government from sliding into tyranny. Freedom of the press can't exist without a robust press. Must safeguard what still exists and then begin working to shore them up across the nation.