Cite as: 540 U. S. 93 (2003)
Opinion of Thomas, J.
the dominant features of a press that has become noncompetitive and enormously powerful and influential in its capacity to manipulate popular opinion and change the course of events." Id., at 249. Despite expressing some sympathy for those arguing for a legally created "right of access" to encourage diversity in viewpoints in the media, the Court struck down such laws, noting that these laws acted both to suppress speech and to "intru[de] into the function of editors" by interfering with "the exercise of editorial control and judgment." Id., at 257-258. Now, supporters of such laws need only argue that the press' "capacity to manipulate popular opinion" gives rise to an "appearance of corruption," especially when this capacity is used to promote a particular candidate or party. After drumming up some evidence,16
laws regulating media outlets in their issuance of editorials would be upheld under the joint opinion's reasoning (a result considered so beyond the pale in Miami Herald Publishing that the Court there used it as a reductio ad absurdum against the right-of-access law being addressed, see id., at 256). Nor is there anything in the joint opinion that would prevent Congress from imposing the Fairness Doctrine, not just on radio and television broadcasters, but on the entire media. See Red Lion Broadcasting, 395 U. S., at 369 (defining the "fairness doctrine" as a "requirement that discussion of public issues be presented . . . and that each side of those issues must be given fair coverage").
16 Given the quality of the evidence the Court relies upon to uphold Title I, the evidence should not be hard to come by. See Kane & Preston, Fox Chief on Hot Seat, Roll Call, June 12, 2003 ("GOP leaders such as House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) have labeled CNN as the 'Communist News Network' and the 'Clinton News Network'—suggesting they only presented the liberal viewpoint and that of former President Clinton"); Jones, Fox News Moves from the Margins to the Mainstream, Shorenstein Center, Harvard, Dec. 1, 2002 (quoting Al Gore as describing Fox News and the Washington Times as "part and parcel of the Republican Party").
285
Page: Index Previous 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007