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NRB Applauds Removal Of Fairness Doctrine
August 23, 2011 at 10:49 AM (PT)
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The NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS (NRB) issued a statement regarding yesterday’s (8/22) FCC announcement that the Fairness Doctrine has been officially removed from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
“The FCC has called the Fairness Doctrine an ‘outdated and obsolete’ regulation, and we wholeheartedly concur,” said NRB Pres./CEO Dr. FRANK WRIGHT. “In fact, for the last eight years, NRB has been actively warning CONGRESS that the Fairness Doctrine was not dead because it was still ‘on the books.’ We are delighted that FCC Chairman GENACHOWSKI has followed-through on his promise to fully eliminate this pernicious rule, which enabled the FCC to compel broadcasters to air opposing viewpoints on controversial issues that the government decided to be of public importance.”
“On this day of genuine celebration, NRB will remain vigilant regarding the concepts embodied in the Fairness Doctrine. While the letter of the law is now dead, we want to ensure that the spirit of this particular law also remains dead. There are many voices calling for increased scrutiny of broadcast programming under the guise of ‘localism,’ and we see such proposals as a Fairness Doctrine in different garb. Therefore, NRB will continue to advocate for the most generous application of First Amendment principles both at the federal level and on the local level, knowing that AMERICANS’ religious liberties are most secure when they are kept out of the hands of government bureaucracies," said Dr. WRIGHT.