Was the Fairness Doctrine a "Chilling Effect"? Evidence from the Postderegulation Radio Market

Thomas Hazlett and David W Sosa

The Journal of Legal Studies, 1997, vol. 26, issue 1, 279-301

Abstract: The stated rationale for the Fairness Doctrine was to encourage more information to be aired by radio and TV stations, on the theory that private broadcasters would tend to underprovide a public good-news about important social issues. Yet, the danger has been seen, at the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal Communications Commision, and elsewhere, that there exists a potentially unconstitutional "chilling effect": the prospect of having to award equal (unpaid) time to dissenting points of view institutes a tax on controversial speech. In that the Doctrine was abolished in 1987, the radio market now allows us to observe licensees' unregulated choices in selecting the profit-maximizing quantity of informational programming. Industry data show a clear break in the trend around 1987, when informational formats began rising relative to others-evidence suggesting just the "chilling effect" feared by the Supreme Court. Copyright 1997 by the University of Chicago.

Date: 1997
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