Unmasking the Myths Behind the Fairness Doctrine

The mood was sour on Capitol Hill in June 2007. Powerful members of the Senate were humiliated when they were forced to withdraw a wildly unpopular immigration bill that would have provided de facto amnesty to illegal aliens.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) quickly blamed conservative talk radio hosts for the embarrassing defeat. On CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, Feinstein said, “I listened to talk show hosts drumming up the opposition by using this word ‘amnesty’ over and over and over again and essentially raising the roil of Americans to the extent that in my 15 years I’ve never received more hate, or more racist phone calls and threats.”

Talk show hosts frequently express opinions that rankle prominent politicians, and occasionally they even whip up.... [more]