Expert: Pilati - 3/26/2009

Question
I hear these days that the left is trying to put in place a '"fairness doctrine" and that the result will be to put conservative talk radio out of business, or at least damage it. I want to understand how that would occur, i.e. the demise of talk radio. The theory that I heard is that people who listen to conservative talk radio will not listen to their favorite shows when equal time for the opposition is enforced. Other theories have included mention of it being disastrous for the format of the talk shows, but I have not heard it fully explained, as to how this would destroy talk radio. Thanks.

Answer
Your latter premise is the correct one.  It will hurt the radio station to give free air time to opposing views.  Sponsors pay based on product sales, and time is money.  Furthermore it is not a real Fairness Doctrine since it does not apply to TV and printed media.