Comments on: The Fairness Doctrine: Controlling Thought and Expression http://thewaronbullshit.com/2008/04/17/the-fairness-doctrine-controlling-thought-and-expression/ Take No Prisoners Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:18:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: Mich http://thewaronbullshit.com/2008/04/17/the-fairness-doctrine-controlling-thought-and-expression/#comment-1211 Mich Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:13:01 +0000 http://thewaronbullshit.com/2008/04/17/the-fairness-doctrine-controlling-thought-and-expression/#comment-1211 I dislike the tendency of media to get segregated along political lines (so that people end up listening to stations, watching channels, and reading papers and blogs catering exclusively to their worldview. I find it leads to a trend of more extreme views in both camps, and more of an us-vs.-them mentality than is actually warranted by differences in worldviews. That said, I agree that legislating some sort of balance is uncommonly stupid, for all the reasons you outlined above. And for another reason: if an intellectually dubious position becomes associated, rightly or wrongly, with a political side (e. g. creationism), that position will become overrepresented (relative to its merits) in broadcasts about particular topics - either as a result of prizing 'balance' over intellectual merit, or out of cowardice. And as a result, the same sort of thinking can start to leak into less politicised debates, giving air time to people who think that vaccines are evil or the government is run by reptilian aliens* or crystals will cure cancer, in the name of balance. Which isn't to say don't give such people a platform, only that you are not obliged to do so every time that there is (or should be) a serious debate. I dislike the tendency of media to get segregated along political lines (so that people end up listening to stations, watching channels, and reading papers and blogs catering exclusively to their worldview. I find it leads to a trend of more extreme views in both camps, and more of an us-vs.-them mentality than is actually warranted by differences in worldviews.

That said, I agree that legislating some sort of balance is uncommonly stupid, for all the reasons you outlined above. And for another reason: if an intellectually dubious position becomes associated, rightly or wrongly, with a political side (e. g. creationism), that position will become overrepresented (relative to its merits) in broadcasts about particular topics - either as a result of prizing ‘balance’ over intellectual merit, or out of cowardice. And as a result, the same sort of thinking can start to leak into less politicised debates, giving air time to people who think that vaccines are evil or the government is run by reptilian aliens* or crystals will cure cancer, in the name of balance. Which isn’t to say don’t give such people a platform, only that you are not obliged to do so every time that there is (or should be) a serious debate.

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