fairness doctrine

noun

: a tenet of licensed broadcasting that ensures a reasonable opportunity for the airing of conflicting viewpoints on controversial issues

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Bolstered by his dogged reporting and backed with an internal fairness doctrine most journalists only dream of, Wahl changed the field for women’s sports. —Tara Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Dec. 2022

The migration reminds her of the late Eighties and early Nineties — after the FCC fairness doctrine was repealed. —Samantha Hissong, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2022

The real disaster in the United States was the abandonment of the fairness doctrine in the Reagan era. —Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 1 June 2021

The fairness doctrine went out the window and there are consequences. —Oliver Staley, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2021

Limbaugh replaced him and was soon developing his ad-lib style — but one constrained by the Federal Communications Commission's fairness doctrine. —Star Tribune, 17 Feb. 2021

In 1949, the Federal Communications Commission established the fairness doctrine, which interpreted operating in the public interest to require broadcasters to cover major public-policy debates and present multiple points of view. —New York Times, 13 Oct. 2020

Under the fairness doctrine, a dozen or so minor party candidates would have been entitled to participate in the debates. —Sam Roberts, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2020

The 1987 repeal of the fairness doctrine means television and radio broadcasters are no longer required to air conflicting views on significant public issues; balance is mostly self-policed. —Isaac Stanley-becker, The Seattle Times, 8 Jan. 2019

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Word History

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

fairness doctrine

noun

: a doctrine requiring broadcasters to provide an opportunity for response to personal attacks aired by the broadcaster and especially for the airing of conflicting viewpoints on controversial issues