Fairness Doctrine

While I certainly believe the Fairness Doctrine is a good idea, and would love to see some kind of policy instated so that the public can be presented with all relevant sides of an issue that would be essential for their understanding of any given story, I honestly don't see how it could work today. Cable news, talk radio, politically-charged bloggers, and Ann Coulter have all risen because of the belief held by a majority of the people (not individual persons, but people - think about that scene in Men in Black where Tommy Lee Jones is trying to convince Will Smith to join MiB...and he responds to Will's skepticism with "a person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, stupid, and you know it."). There is a widespread belief among a majority of the people that because these pundits openly declare their biases, you can trust their insights more - and therefore, they must be practicing responsible journalism. While nearly everyone in our class, and probably anyone in the Gaylord College who survived Dr. Gade's class, can point out the falacy of this idea without so much as averting their eyes from Agent J running down a sephalapoid, the people, by and large, have little idea as to what makes good and responsible journalism good and responsible. The Fairness Doctrine looks great on paper, and certainly seems like a reasonable approach to media to all who have studied it, it would never fly. Cable news, talk radio, politically-charged bloggers, and Ann Coulter have all made their bed and are suckling off the tit of openly-biased journalism, and I can guarantee that every single one of them would be damned to change it. It's going to be business-as-usual up against the breast of irresponsibility, so nuzzle up, buttercup.