fairness doctrine

noun

: a tenet of licensed broadcasting that ensures a reasonable opportunity for the airing of conflicting viewpoints on controversial issues

Examples of fairness doctrine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
In the television era, the fairness doctrine laid that groundwork. Jaron Lanier, WIRED, 13 Feb. 2024 Consider the Federal Communications Commission’s fairness doctrine, a policy that controversial issues of public importance should receive balanced coverage, exposing audiences to differing views. Garriy Shteynberg, Discover Magazine, 24 Jan. 2024 Best of luck with the fairness doctrine. Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, 20 Sep. 2021 Bolstered by his dogged reporting and backed with an internal fairness doctrine most journalists only dream of, Wahl changed the field for women’s sports. Tara Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Dec. 2022 The migration reminds her of the late Eighties and early Nineties — after the FCC fairness doctrine was repealed. Samantha Hissong, Rolling Stone, 4 Jan. 2022 The real disaster in the United States was the abandonment of the fairness doctrine in the Reagan era. Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 1 June 2021 The fairness doctrine went out the window and there are consequences. Oliver Staley, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2021 Limbaugh replaced him and was soon developing his ad-lib style — but one constrained by the Federal Communications Commission's fairness doctrine. Star Tribune, 17 Feb. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fairness doctrine was in 1952

Dictionary Entries Near fairness doctrine

Cite this Entry

“Fairness doctrine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fairness%20doctrine. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Legal Definition

fairness doctrine

noun
: a doctrine requiring broadcasters to provide an opportunity for response to personal attacks aired by the broadcaster and especially for the airing of conflicting viewpoints on controversial issues
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!