How have we come to this point where civility is replaced by obnoxious hate speech with only conjecture used in place of evidence? We saw this coming in 1981 with the systemic demise of the Fairness Doctrine. How do we take back the rights of the American citizen?
Framework of the Fairness Doctrine was based on realities from the first term of the FDR Administration with the attempted Industrial Coup of 1933, the loss of Spain, Italy, Germany and Japan to autocratic military regimes, and the rise of the USSR and China to World Powers. President Truman wanted to protect, not control, the public through mass media.
Today, Nextstar is on the verge of accessing 39% of American markets and has announced intention to influence local discourse by refusing to broadcast “free and responsible speech” of a national subject! The current Trump administrators, through the Federal Communications Commission with a Heritage Foundation author for Project 2025, are publicly threatening mass media by removing their First Amendment Rights.
This leads us to today, where facts are dismissed by mass media outlets distributing falsehoods and using inflammatory language, carefully gauged by wordsmiths, in the development of an “us against them” rhetoric. Its effect, to “divide and conquer,” is only manifested by autonomous entities that have something to gain.
Where does this leave us, as citizens of this remarkable community, except at odds with one another regarding nefarious scenarios we really understand little about? How do we stand against extremism, exploitation, hate speech and deliberate misrepresentation by those who seek only “the last word” instead of resolution involving community instead of individual?
T.R. Lewis, BSW