The Fairness Doctrine: like a men's clothing store

The lack of liberal voices on the airwaves has nothing to do with the Fairness Doctrine and everything to do with the free market. Air America attempted to cater to politically liberal radio listeners and discovered that the market simply wasn't there. And now supporters of this revamped Fairness Doctrine are attempting to force the market, claiming that passage of the Media Ownership Reform Act will result in more diverse voices on the airwaves by lowering the number of media outlets that one company is permitted to own in a single market. However, in practice, placing limits on the station ownership has been shown to have the exact opposite effect. If corporations are forced to sell off certain stations, the majority of those properties will find themselves unable to compete against cable, satellite, radio, and the Internet for the advertising dollars on which they rely. And without the necessary income, these stations will eventually fail, resulting in less competition and ultimately a more homogenized media, neither of which is in the best interests of the public. And in the spirit of full disclosure, I do some consulting work with the NAB.