Free Republic

The Fairness Doctrine Is NOT the Equal Time Rule and Stop Saying It Is or I Will Demand Equal Time for the Sake of Fairness Posted by Anthony Sacramone on February 14, 2009 Over at Get Religion, Mollie Hemingway parses a recent news story about a discussion of the Fairness Doctrine at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. Tangentially related is the tendency to confuse that doctrine with the Equal Time Rule, which has to do with elections and candidates’ having access to, you guessed it, equal time. Former President Bill Clinton recently opined about his desire to see the Fairness...

In yesterday's (March 27) Los Angeles Times, media reporter and critic David Shaw demonstrates Oscar Wilde's maxim that modern journalism is important—if only because it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community. Giving every indication that he's read a lot of stories about bloggers but not that many actual blogs, Shaw disparages the form as the error-filled rants of amateurs in his piece, "Do Bloggers Deserve Basic Journalistic Protections?" It's a "solipsistic, self-aggrandizing journalist-wannabe genre," Shaw writes. Without naming a specific offender—except Matt Drudge, who he acknowledges really isn't a blogger—Shaw generalizes about bloggers for 1,300 gassy...