Posted on 04/21/2009 8:40:00 PM PDT by zaphod3000
The nation's largest organization of professional journalists announced Tuesday it will oppose the reintroduction of the Fairness Doctrine.
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) announced it would stand against the Fairness Doctrine, which the group said would allow the government to control broadcast editorial content.
The announcement makes for strange bedfellows with conservatives in Congress, who have alleged the Fairness Doctrine would result in severe constraints on their talk radio base, including superstars like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
"SPJ in general opposes government intervention on speech. The Fairness Doctrine does that and discussion about having it again should end," SPJ President Dave Aeikens said in a statement. "The SPJ Code of Ethics requires fairness in news coverage, but we don't want the government to mandate that."
Though legislation to institute the Fairness Doctrine has not yet been introduced this Congress, some House Democratic leaders have indicated that they favor its eventual passage.
This is censorship by Big Brother Government. It is the death of freedom of the press.
Wow! A principled position taken by liberals. There’s something you don’t see every day. Next thing you know the ACLU will condemn the DHS report. Right.
Buyers remorse?
I guess even the adoring MSM does not quite trust the Lord Obama to only strangle conservative voices. He has made threatening gestures in the past towards liberal pressies who fail to toe his line.
It’s also becoming quite clear that he does not intend to bail out the newspapers. And he can’t give ALL of them cushy government jobs (though he has made a manful effort in this direction).
Just wait till 0 comes out with his plan to increase diversity through local control over licensing boards.
The SPJers will be falling over each other to be first in line to support the plan.
Considering that so-called "journalists" barely rate above teachers colleges and primarily comprise airheads, dimwits, idiots and Hollyweird wannabees, I'm not particularly impressed.
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