I’ve changed my mind. The Fairness Doctrine needs to be reinstated, either by the Federal Communications Commission or an act of Congress. My previous blog posts have been wishy-washy on the issue. But no more. I’m convinced that a lack of balanced dialogue on the nation’s airwaves—compounded by viral Internet rumors—has created an era of public affairs’ ignorance, incivility and government distrust.

The Fairness Doctrine was repealed by the FCC in 1987, which was then under the chairmanship of Mark Fowler, a former Ronald Reagan campaign official and confidante of the President. I doubt it’s a coincidence that Rush Limbaugh’s radio show went into national syndication the following year. Until August 1988, the opinions of the ex-disc jockey and eventual pill-head were confined to Sacramento, California. 

When the FCC revoked a 40 year old policy requiring licensed broadcasters to display a modicum of fairness in airing views about politics and public affairs, AM radio was resurrected from near death. The condition had been caused by the superior quality of FM bands. Hence, many AM stations were relying on religious broadcasts to avoid bankruptcy. That is until Limbaugh took over for Jesus. 

Instintively or by sheer luck, he recognized that outrageous opinions attracted more listeners than reciting Biblical passages. Soon, Limbaugh wannabes—many of them unemployed disc jockeys—began refining their acts. In 1989, for example, Sean Hannity ran a job wanted ad in Broadcasting Magazine, declaring himself as “the most talked about college talk show host in America.” The conversation about Hannity must have been about his limited experience of getting fired for attacking gays after less than a year on the air in Santa Barbara. Hannity’s second broadcasting job was in Athens, Alabama, a town more tolerant of his intolerance. 

In the late eighties and early nineties, Glenn Beck was still boozing, drugging and pulling stupid stunts that got fired from disc jockey jobs. He says he got sober in 1994. By then, the repeal of of Fairness Doctrine had already turned AM radio into right-wing propaganda outlets. Free of FCC constraints, station managers were devoid of conscience and will to hire any lunatic with the ability to attract listeners and help produce profits. CNN Headline News gave Beck his TV break. Then it was onward and upward to Fox “News,” the network with the highest tolerance for insanity.

Before Fox, Limbaugh was the first choice of the wing-nuts.  The election of Bill Clinton was fine fodder for him. He had already feasted on Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis four years earlier by exploiting Willie Horton—the black convict, who raped a woman while on furlough from a Massachusetts prison wile Dukakis was Governor of the state. But Willie Horton propaganda was mild compared to the disinformation campaign that was launched following the 1993 suicide of Clinton legal counsel, Vincent Foster. In a twisted manner, Foster’s death raised questions about a Clinton investment ten years before in a minor real estate development called, Whitewater Estates. Limbaugh went on the attack. 

He helped spread rumors that Foster—clinically diagnosed as depressed—was murdered to cover-up Whitewater misdeeds. Or worse, to hide a love affair with Hillary Clinton. It was the genesis of a seven-year, $70-million investigation that eventually focused on whether the President had a crooked penis, or if Monica Lewinsky had knee calluses. The subsequent impeachment of the President for lying about his sexual peccadillos resulted in an innocent verdict. But the bogus scandal, at least in my opinion, was enough to elect George W. Bush President. He took the nation to war and created economic chaos.

Meantime, talk radio continues to flourish by exploiting brain-lazy radio listeners and TV viewers who accept without question the lies, half-truths and propaganda of failed disc jockeys. Don’t  get me wrong. Although my opnions are 180 degrees from the commentaries of Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and other right-wing talkers, I would never deny them the right to rattle on. Thanks to freedom of speech, I built a successful career as an investigative reporter. Indeed, I was a radio talk show host for years when the three icons of the craft were in kindegarten and/or elementary and high schools.

My program was one of the first, if not the very first, radio talk show in Baton Rouge. The WJBO show aired during a volatile era when civil rights, school desegregation  and other contentious issues were being debated in Louisiana. Yet, I never found the Fairness Doctrine to be a burden.  Although many guests on the show were controversial—as well as my opinions—I tried to give  listeners balanced views. This was not out of necessity or fear of the FCC, but because it was the right thing to do. Most people who sought to voice opinions as guests on the show were given the opportunity—multiple times, usually. Hence, I interviewed Nazi’s, KKK Grand Dragons, black militants and an array of bed-wetting liberals. 

As a result of my experience, it surprised me to learn that WJBO’s program director was a featured speaker at the Tea Party’s April 15th tax day demonstration on the steps of the Louisiana Capitol building. But my old station is the Baton Rouge outlet for Rush Limbaugh and others of his ilk, so it is pretty obvious that the views of the station’s program director must reflect the crap he puts on the air. I should probably be more generous in my criticism. WJBO let me promote my book during an interview on its morning drive time program. Slice, slice. There goes the nose right off my face.

Regardless, I can’t get the yearning for the old days when fairnesss meant more than profits.

My memoir, Odyssey of a Derelict Gunslinger, is available at amazon.com and independent bookstores. It offers much more than $19.99 worth of laughs. It is an account of my illustrious (I choose the adjectives) career.