At the FCC, We Try . . .

The Good Guys, the Bad Guys, and the First Amendment By Fred Friendly Random House, 268 pp., $10 Despite the Thirteenth Amendment’s prohibition of involuntary servitude, the Supreme Court has never ruled the draft unconstitutional. Likewise, the First Amendment hasn’t kept the Federal Government from regulating the broadcasting industry, or from insisting that such regulation is for the general welfare. The Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the FCC, declared unequivocally in 1927, “Broadcasting stations are licensed to serve the public, and not for the purpose of furthering the private or selfish interests of individuals or groups of individuals. The standard of public interest, convenience, or necessity means nothing if it does not mean this.”

Since 1949, the Fairness Doctrine has existed to remind radio and television broadcasters that the Constitution doesn’t always mean what it says. Fred Friendly, former president of CBS News, has written a history of the Federal Government’s clumsy, confused attempts to force broadcasters to present different points of view.

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Stephen J. Chapman

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The Good Guys, the Bad Guys, and the First Amendment By Fred Friendly Random House, 268 pp., $10 Despite the Thirteenth Amendment’s prohibition of involuntary servitude, the Supreme Court has never ruled the draft unconstitutional. Likewise, the First Amendment hasn’t kept the Federal Government from regulating the broadcasting industry, or from insisting that such regulation is for the general welfare. The Federal Radio Commission, forerunner of the FCC, declared unequivocally in 1927, “Broadcasting stations are licensed to serve the public, and not for the purpose of furthering the private or selfish interests of individuals or groups of individuals. The standard of public interest, convenience, or necessity means nothing if it does not mean this.”

Since 1949, the Fairness Doctrine has existed to remind radio and television broadcasters that the Constitution doesn’t always mean what it says. Fred Friendly, former president of CBS News, has written a history of the Federal Government’s clumsy, confused attempts to force broadcasters to present different points of view.