The Fairness Doctrine was a fundamentally flawed, complete joke.
It’s better for society as a whole that a news story about the earth’s revolution around the sun and rotation on its own axis and how that affects weather patterns wouldn’t have to provide a “contrasting viewpoint” with “equal time” talking about a glass-domed flat earth has governments with machines that can juice the weather to increase the severity of natural disasters to push a “narrative” or “agenda”.
For those who might be thinking, “c’mon, that’s a ridiculous example and an appeal to extremes,” I’d say…have you read (especially books, not social media posts) much lately? These days, that example isn’t extreme.
The evidence-free so-called “other side” of many issues shouldn’t even be dignified with an acknowledgement, let alone equal time.
On the plus side, I have found a personal silver lining and useful time-saving heuristic in the relatively recent explosion of the use of the word “narrative” as a shorthand for “I don’t believe what you just said, therefore it isn’t true”. Once I see someone break that term out in a discussion about any subject, I know there is nothing to be gained from remaining in that discussion or continuing it.
