According to Broadcasting & Cable, an industry magazine, Slaughter "said that refraining from indecency (she actually said obscenity) isn't the same as fulfilling public interest obligations and said that declining standards of fairness and truth are a bigger indecency."

Complaining about a Sinclair Broadcasting's pre-election news program she believes was biased against Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry, she said, "One-sided documentaries designed to impact an election without equal time ... That's indecent and dangerous."

The program in question dealt with accusations that Kerry, during his abbreviated tour of duty as a Navy Swift Boat skipper in Vietnam, may not have earned all of his three Purple Heart awards.

The fairness rule was discarded by the FCC in 1987 during the Reagan administration because, "contrary to its purpose, it failed to encourage the discussion of more controversial issues," says an analysis by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

A number of liberals believe the demise of the fairness doctrine led the way to the rise of talk radio, which is largely conservative.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., thinks so. "It is not good enough to hold broadcasters accountable for wardrobe malfunctions," she said on the House floor, referring to the excuse used by Janet Jackson, who, during a 2004 Super Bowl performance, had a portion of her costume ripped away by singer Justin Timberlake, revealing her mostly naked breast. "They must live up to the public good. ... Media monopolies are free to use their power to present only one side of the story."

But, says the Heritage Foundation, in today's broadcasting world, the choices are much more numerous than in the days when the rule was written, so it has become unnecessary.

"The doctrine's supporters seem not to appreciate just how much the broadcast world has changed since 1949. With the proliferation of informational resources and technology, the number of broadcast outlets available to the public has increased steadily," says the Heritage analysis.

One such choice, the liberal Air America radio network, would presumably have to include some conservative commentary if Democrats were to get their way. No word on whether House Dems thought of that, however.

The left-wing drive to get the rule reinstated is not new. As far back as 1993, Democrats were attempting to re-impose it, with the Fairness in Broadcasting Act of 1993. It was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ernest Hollings of South Carolina and in the House by Rep. Bill Hefner of North Carolina.

It didn't pass, and Republicans today aren't likely to let it become law again, either.

Editor's note: