Forty-seven percent of the U.S. population believes that the government should reimpose the Fairness Doctrine requiring radio and TV stations to balance political comments equally between conservatives and liberals. Thirty-nine percent says that broadcasting should remain unregulated on that score, according to a survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports. The Fairness Doctrine was terminated in 1987 by the Reagan administration. In a similar survey conducted in July 2007 Americans were found to be evenly divided on the issue. Democrats have been pressing for a return of the Fairness Doctrine, primarily because of the domination of talk radio by conservatives. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the survey found that 54 percent of Democrats favor a return of the Fairness Doctrine while 26 percent do not; Republicans and independents are equally divided on the matter, the study found.

15/08/2008