PLATFORM : Fairness Doctrine

The cover of a magazine called Slick Times depicts the President as a pimp and the First Lady as a whore. No President in history has been attacked in such an unfair, ubiquitous and downright foul manner, of which Slick Times is just one example.

In this poisonous atmosphere, no distinction is made between personal attack and criticism of program or policy. If people are cynical now, the promulgation of slash-and-burn politics will cause even more to disengage from the political process. This will not help any President of any party; it will certainly not help our democracy.

Our country needs more people like former Michigan governor William Milliken, a Republican, and Newton N. Minow, a Democrat, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission during the Kennedy years. At a GOP meeting in May, Milliken spoke out against “zealots” in his party like Rush Limbaugh and Oliver North, whose “mendacity” he condemned. Minow endorses the revival of the Fairness Doctrine, the only way to ensure more even-handed media treatment of issues and the President. Only then will the polls truly reflect informed public opinion, rather than measuring the success of a campaign of propaganda.