LETTER: Donald Trump virus updates are just long campaign commercials

In 1987, the Federal Communication Commission under President Ronald Reagan eliminated the Fairness Doctrine, under which those who used the nation’s airways (both radio and TV) had to provide equal time to both sides of controversial issues. This unilateral action was detrimental and a blow to real communication and to keeping people honest when they talk in public.

We are now seeing a perfect example of why the doctrine should never have been eliminated. President Donald Trump every day has been taking advantage of the coronavirus briefings to spew out, from the White House bully pulpit, at least an hour of political theater designed for his self-aggrandizement with truly little concern for the facts or the truth of the issue.

I am concerned that without accurate information coming out, people may be misled into taking actions that may be detrimental to their health, liberty, safety and freedoms. Bring back fairness in political discourse or eliminate this free one-sided political advertisement.