NEW YORK — Rupert Murdoch, Australian-born publishing magnate, became a U.S. citizen today, removing an obstacle to his acquisition of a network of independent American television stations.
Murdoch, 54, has been living in the United States since 1973. He was joined in the courtroom ceremony by 185 other aliens.
By becoming an American citizen, Murdoch gave up his Australian citizenship since neither government recognizes dual citizenship.
Murdoch recently purchased 50% of 20th Century Fox Film Corp. and plans to purchase Metromedia, the nation’s largest group of independent television stations, including KTTV in Los Angeles. Under federal regulations an alien may not own more than 20% of a broadcast license.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-09-04-mn-23112-story.html
The Fairness Doctrine: How We Lost It and Why We Need It Back
The Fairness Doctrine (whose precursor was the Radio Act of 1927) was enacted into law in 1959 and repealed by Ronald Reagan in 1987. An attempt to reinstate it could not withstand Reagan’s veto in 1988. Since then, political monologues proliferate the airwaves. Could the casualty of undermining this doctrine, originally meant to support non-biased dialogue, be maximizing commercialization over the public good and turning the news into entertainment for profit-oriented businesses, rather than being a platform for important issues of a diverse American populace? Americans like to see themselves as cosmopolitan. But a citizen of the world can’t concurrently support a populist, reductionary agenda. Is polarization a direct result of cable news, which ultimately results in America-first reductionism? How much is data mining, targeted internet searching, and social media advertising is responsible for the “me-first” American ideology?–Ed.
What Is The Fairness Doctrine?
Almost concurrently, in Telecommunications Research & Action Center (TRAC) v. FCC (801 F.2d 501, 1986) the D.C. district court ruled that the Fairness Doctrine was not codified as part of the 1959 Amendment to the 1937 Communications Act. Instead, Justices Robert Bork and Antonin Scalia ruled that the doctrine was not "mandated by statute."
FCC Repeals Rule
In 1987, the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine, "with the exception of the personal attack and political editorializing rules."
In 1989, the DC District Court made the final ruling in Syracuse Peace Council v FCC. The ruling quoted the "Fairness Report" and concluded that the Fairness Doctrine was not in the public interest:
On the basis of the voluminous factual record compiled in this proceeding, our experience in administering the doctrine and our general expertise in broadcast regulation, we no longer believe that the fairness doctrine, as a matter of policy, serves the public interest...
We conclude that the FCC's decision that the fairness doctrine no longer served the public interest was neither arbitrary, capricious nor an abuse of discretion, and are convinced that it would have acted on that finding to terminate the doctrine even in the absence of its belief that the doctrine was no longer constitutional. Accordingly we uphold the Commission without reaching the constitutional issues.
Congress Ineffective
In June 1987, Congress had attempted to codify the Fairness Doctrine, but the bill was vetoed by President Reagan. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush followed suit with another veto.
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