The Fairness Doctrine Today: A Constitutional Curiosity and an Impossible Dream

Abstract

Immediately following the Supreme Court's opinion in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC,' which sustained the constitutionality of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Fairness Doctrine,2 a flurry of articles appeared describing how to apply the doctrine vigorously to new and different situations.3 Subsequently, especially after the Court's decision in CBS v. Democratic National Committee4 curtailed access possibilities, and Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo 5 refused to sustain right to reply laws for candidates attacked by the print media, most discussions of the Fairness Doctrine have addressed its constitu-