The Fairness Doctrine, Rod Blagojevich, and Richard Nixon

December 10, 2008   •  By Sean Parnell
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Much of the coverage of yesterday’s criminal complaint filed against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich focuses on his efforts to "sell" the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Obama, along with his tawdry fundraising practices where he apparently exchanged large gifts for lucrative state contracts and benefits.

Another important aspect of this case, one easily lost among the more sensational charges, was Governor Blagojevich’s attempt to silence his critics by using his power to pressure the owner of the Chicago Tribune to fire members of the editorial board. This has clear implications concerning the effort to legalize government intimidation of media outlets who criticize powerful politicians under the guise of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine."

From the Tribune coverage of Governor Blagojevich’s indictment:

Blagojevich… also allegedly conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of Blagojevich in exchange for state help with the sale of Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium owned by Tribune Co.

The Chicago Sun-Times elaborates on Governor Blagojevich’s efforts to silence his political critics in the press:

Among the federal charges against Gov. Blagojevich is that he threatened to withhold substantial state assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to pressure the Chicago Tribune into firing editorial board members sharply critical of him.

Intercepted phone calls show that the Tribune Company, which owns the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Cubs, explored the possibility of obtaining assistance from the Illinois Finance Authority…

In a Nov. 6 phone call, Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris explained to Blagojevich that the deal… would save the company approximately $100 million.

Intercepted calls allegedly show that Blagojevich directed Harris to inform the Tribune [owner]… that state financial assistance would be withheld unless members of the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board were fired, primarily because Blagojevich viewed them as driving discussion of his possible impeachment.

…Blagojevich allegedly told Harris that he should… [tell the ]Tribune owner, "our recommendation is fire all those [expletive] people, get ’em the [expletive] out of there and get us some editorial support."

…In a further conversation on Nov. 21, Harris told Blagojevich that he had singled out to Tribune Financial Advisor the Tribune’s deputy editorial page editor, John McCormick, "as somebody who was the most biased and unfair," according to the complaint.

After hearing [assurances] that the Tribune would be making changes affecting the editorial board, Blagojevich allegedly had a series of conversations with Chicago Cubs representatives regarding efforts to provide state financing for Wrigley Field…

If the allegations are true, Governor Blagojevich was clearly attempting to use his powers to suppress unwelcome political speech by the media. Disturbingly, Illinois’ other U.S. Senator, Richard Durbin, has called for the return of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," which would provide politicians a legal means to punish and suppress media outlets that dare to criticize powerful politicians. The Tribune Company, after all, doesn’t just own the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs, and Wrigley Field – they also own WGN radio.

Those of us who follow the history of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" remember that Richard Nixon used similar threats against the Washington Post, ominously warning that the Post would have trouble renewing their broadcast licenses due to their critical coverage of him during the Watergate scandal.

The leverage that Governor Blagojevich apparently attempted to use against his critics in the media was to a degree unavoidable – all states regulate and involve themselves to some degree in the business aspects of media outlets and their owners, such as through health, occupational, and safety regulations, or economic development programs. Giving politicians another tool to intimidate those in the media who criticize them, and this one that can be used openly and legally, is a terrible idea. Hopefully, the alleged efforts of Governor Blagojevich to silence his critics in the media will wake people up to the dangers of allowing the government to dictate political speech over the airwaves.

Sean Parnell

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