Battle over ‘Fairness Doctrine’ heats up - Support for ‘censorship’ largely divided on political lines

The president isn’t going to blame the Democrats – yet – for not fully supporting a plan that would assure broadcasters in the United States their freedom from government-imposed censorship on their views and comments.

The issue concerns the ongoing battle over the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” by which the federal government used to require radio broadcasters to “balance” their comments between conservative and liberal viewpoints.

There have been a multitude of calls in recent years for that doctrine to be reasserted by the federal government, in light of the overwhelming success of more traditional perspectives on radio airwaves today.

A spokeswoman for President Bush today said he doesn’t believe there’s any need for such censorship…