this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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Politics
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I mean, this should be a no brainer. Aren't there regulations in place, regardless of amendment-this-or-that, on what can be broadcasted in the US as "news"? I'd have to go check, but regardless, knowingly spreading lies to manipulate your audience isn't really something I'd consider news, just propaganda.
There used to be. It was called the fairness doctrine. It was introduced in 1949 and was abolished in 1987. It required news broadcasters to present controversial issues to fairly reflect differing viewpoints - in other words, you can't have overt, blatant, "This will cause liberals to eat your babies" propaganda.
There are some issues with it, but it's clearly better than what we're allowing now. The crux, though, is that it only matters for FCC-aligned issues, so actual broadcasting. Cable and internet sources would still be able to lie with impunity, and they make up a huge portion of our disinformation compared to what existed even in the early 2000s.
So, if one of the viewpoints of a controversial issue is based on falsehoods, would they be forced to present it as equal to the other viewpoint? Because if so, I don't really see that as better.
Not exactly. The fairness would include allowing the other side it's refutation on the facts.
News companies have never been required to report falsehoods just because someone famous said them. They've chosen to do that since the fairness doctrine was upended, because it aligns with their corporate interests.