House Commerce and Energy Committee leaders and members of the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee called for FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Tuesday to suspend a field study that could revive the Fairness Doctrine.
Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Steve Scalise (R-La.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) were among the legislators who signed a letter to Wheeler that called the Fairness Doctrine unconstitutional.
The original Fairness Doctrine placed responsibilities on broadcasters to fairly reflect differing viewpoints. It was stricken from law in 2011.
“Given the widespread calls for the commission to respect the First Amendment and stay out of the editorial decisions of reporters and broadcasters, we were shocked to see that the FCC is putting itself back in the business of attempting to control the political speech of journalists…” the legislators said.
Such a move could transform the FCC into “news police,” the legislators added.
“…The commission has no business probing the news media’s editorial judgment and expertise, nor does it have any business in prescribing a set diet of ‘critical information,'” the lawmakers said. “These goals are plainly inappropriate and are at bottom an incursion by the government into the constitutionally protected operations of the professional news media.”