Nate Hochman, a fellow at the Claremont Institute, is trying to convince conservatives that the Fairness Doctrine was fair. It is a bold thesis given longstanding conservative antipathy towards government regulation of media. But Hochman blames that antipathy on kneejerk libertarians, who invoke “shallow Reagan-era slogans about small government and individual liberty.” Perhaps, but I can tell you with certainty that the author is falling prey to a shallow understanding of the history of broadcast regulation.
It would not be entirely fair to criticize a recent college graduate like Mr. Hochman for not knowing what he doesn’t know; I myself knew little about the Fairness Doctrine until I wrote a book about it. But this isn’t a college term paper and the bad policies stemming from this ignorance of the history of broadcasting threaten the future of free speech online.
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