BMI’s Gainor: Fairness Doctrine? More Like Censorship Doctrine

The term “Fairness Doctrine” – applied to liberals’ efforts to require talk radio to offer balanced views – harkens to Soviet propaganda, according to Business & Media Institute Vice President Dan Gainor.

“It’s one of the great misnomers of our time. It’s, you know, ‘Fairness Doctrine,’ almost like a Soviet term,” Gainor said on “Fox & Friends Weekend” Nov. 9. “It should be Censorship Doctrine. That’s what they’re trying to do.”

“They’re trying to clamp down on radio because the left and the media control every other facet of where we get our information: entertainment media, print media, you know you’ve got TV, you’ve got NPR, you’ve got Air America,” Gainor said. “The one thing they don’t control, the one way Americans get their information is talk radio.”

Several high-profile Democrats in Congress have expressed interest in revisiting the so-called Fairness Doctrine – although President-elect Obama has said he opposes it.

Gainor also discussed reports showing a clear media slant in favor of Obama during the presidential campaign. He said studies such as one from Washington Post Obudsman Deborah Howell were evidence of a “ridiculous” and “corrupt” media approach to covering politics.

“This is ridiculous. It’s corrupt. It shows just, the mainstream media, how far, overwhelmingly far they are out of bounds with America,” Gainor said. “They picked a president and the First Amendment’s just not designed for that.”

He said competition with bloggers and alternative media sources is driving mainstream outlets toward a more “European model, where they’re more aligned with political parties or political thought.”

“But you look at some of the numbers here: the American people know this election was fixed by the media,” Gainor said. “By 8 to 1 they believe that the media were favoring Obama over McCain. The previous record ratio was 3 to 1, so that’s 1996. That shows just how much, how skewed this is.”