PROJECT ENOCH
In this way, the report concludes, between $100 milli on and $250 million could be raised for public
radio, which will be compelled to broadcast via the old standards established by the "Fairness
Doctrine."
Since the report's release in 2007, the Obama camp has twice gone on record advocating positions
identical to Podesta's think tank. In July 2008, in denying the presidential candidate's support of the
"Fairness Doctrine," Obama's press secretary said, "Sen. Obama supports media -ownership caps,
network neutrality, public broadcasting, as well as increasing m inority ownership of broadcasting
and print outlets."
Frank Wright president of the National Religious Broadcasters said he sees the move as a credible
threat under a Democrat-dominated Congress and with President Obama in the White House.
"And we have a personal concern," Wright told Broadcasting & Cable. "The only radio station that ever lost its license under the fairness
doctrine regime was a Christian radio station in Red Lion, Pa. We are only responding now to the statements the Democrats the mselves are
making."
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Representing 1,400 organizations, including large ministries and TV and radio stations, NRB said it is "girding
itself for a major battle over broadcasting freedoms," and was prepared to go to court, lobby Congress, or take
its message to the public.
"We have talked before about many of these issues, but now, with the shift in the political landscape, I think these same things have a much higher
probability of being enacted or at least having legislation and hearings and debates, and on the regulation side at the FCC,"
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said Wright.
He said the new political climate doesn't just threaten broadcasters, but even churches that have no
broadcast outlet.
"The fairness doctrine has a tremendous potential for constraining free speech, but hate crimes legislation has the potential of criminalizing it," he said.
"In the short run, the fairness doctrine has the immediate threat of being applied to Christian broadcasters and to the church in a very deleterious way.
Hate crimes legislation, if that is enacted, will evolve over time and bleed over into speech and have a negative effect, but not
right away. The fairness doctrine will have a negative impact the day it is implemented."
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He said he expects religious broadcasters, largely Christian, to be par ticularly hard hit because of the
doctrine's requirement for so-called "balance. If an opposing view must be found for every matter of
controversy, Christian broadcasters could find themselves in the unenviable and untenable position of
seeking out other religious viewpoints – Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist or atheist – to counter what
ministers of the Gospel say on the air.
"I have had a number of conversations with NRB members who operated under the old 'Fairness Doctrine' regime, What happens is there is a chilling of
free speech because the license-holder tends to take off the air the programmer whose content is deemed to be controversial."
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"I don't want to tip our hands on strategy except to say that if the approach taken by the administration is an FCC approach, we believe we can bring
enough pressure to bear on the commission at the point of enactment to bring enough heat to get them to see the light, so to speak. I don't think we can
stop it in the House or Senate."
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Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., when asked about whether it was time to bring back the so-called "Fairness
Doctrine":
"I think it's absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it's called the Fairness Standard, whether it's called somethi ng else – I
absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and
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