WILLIAM O. DOUGLAS on
GOVERNMENT MEDIA CONTROL
"My conclusion is that TV and radio stand in the same protected
position under the First Amendment as do newspapers and magazines. The
philosophy of the FirstAmendment requires that result ....The fear that
Mad-ison and Jefferson had of government intrusion ... was founded not
only on the spectre of a lawless government but [on the spectre] of
government under the control of a faction that desired to foist its views
of the common good on the people ....The sturdy people who fashioned the
First Amendment would be shocked at the intrusion of government into a
field which in this Nation has been reserved for individuals ....
The prospect of putting government in a position of control... is
to me an appalling one, even to the extent of the Fairness Doctrine. The
struggle for liberty has been a struggle against government. The essential
scheme of our Constitution and Bill of Rights was to take government off
the backs of people. Separation of powers was one device. An independent
judiciary was another device. The Bill of Rights was still another. And it
is anathema to the First Amendment to allow government any role of
censorship over newspapers, magazines, books, art, music, TV, radio, or
any other aspect of the press"
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