Will "Fairness Doctrine" Return Under Another Name?

As you know, weve been concerned for some time about the possibility that the Obama Administration would work to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine -- a 1949 government censorship and content control regulation of broadcasting through its diversity and localism mandates.  During his Senate confirmation hearing to become Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Julius Genachowski testified that he did not support a return of the Doctrine and he would fully respect the First Amendment.  His recent appointment of Marc Lloyd to the post of Chief Diversity Officer at the FCC, however, undermines that pledge and reignites reason for concern.

Marc Lloyd is notorious for his support of censorship policies.  In this 2007 report, Lloyd suggests that conservative broadcasters be fined up to $250 million, with the revenue redirected to National Public Radio, which already receives millions in government funds.  He followed up with this report that openly discusses how the Fairness Doctrine can be accomplished without calling it by that name.  Lloyd argues for a regulatory scheme on radio and television broadcasters called localism and diversity to effectively accomplish quotas and viewpoint requirements based on programming content.  Simply put, its the Fairness Doctrine by another name. 
 
Also troubling is the fact that Lloyd does not believe that the 1987 repeal of the Fairness Doctrine stripped the FCC of the authority to reinstate it.  Rather, he favors an administrative decision by the five unelected FCC commissioners to simply bring the Doctrine back.
 
Bottom line, Lloyds appointment to a FCC position with direct authority on these issues crystallizes our concerns. Further, Lloyds own writings lay out a plan for accomplishing this onerous objective. 
 
We will be working vigorously to make sure this effort does not go unnoticed and that the American people are not deceived by a revival of the Fairness Doctrine under a different name.