LETTER: The Fairness Doctrine and Donald Trump

Regarding “Only fair” (Review-Journal letters, May 1): Writer Charles Parrish laments the fact that in 1987 the Federal Communications Commission under President Ronald Reagan eliminated the Fairness Doctrine, “under which those who used the nation’s airwaves (both radio and TV) had to provide equal time to both sides of controversial issues.” He objects to President Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus press conferences, which he calls “political theater designed for his self-aggrandizement.”

I think we know the answer, but a good question to ask is: Why doesn’t Joe Biden hold daily press conferences and, like President Trump, allow the press to ask any question regarding any subject, coronavirus or not?

I think we also know this answer, but it would be interesting to look back, especially over the past few years, and test the reporting “fairness” of the six mainstream media outlets: ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC and Fox.

President Reagan was correct that the Fairness Doctrine was out dated. But for doubters, the idiom “be careful what you wish for” applies.