What Josh Clark has said about Fairness Doctrine

Clark argues that the doctrine sits at the core of the left-right divide over free speech versus public interest, and that the two positions cannot be reconciled.

“And there's no way to reconcile the two. You can't. You have to choose a side”

Stuff You Should Know: Selects: How the Fairness Doctrine Worked (Jun 13, 2026) · Listen from 13:14

Clark contends that the personal attack and political editorial rules were not radical but simply the foundation of good journalism.

“the personal attack rule and the political editorial rule that were part of the Fairness Doctrine, that's just like the foundation of good journalism basically”

Stuff You Should Know: Selects: How the Fairness Doctrine Worked (Jun 13, 2026) · Listen from 17:43

Clark reports that a 1967 ruling treated cigarette advertising as one side of a controversial issue, allowing anti-smoking groups to demand response time.

“There was a ruling in 1967 that found that cigarette advertising qualified as a presentation of one viewpoint of a controversial subject”

Stuff You Should Know: Selects: How the Fairness Doctrine Worked (Jun 13, 2026) · Listen from 34:35

Clark notes that Congress passed a bipartisan bill to codify the doctrine but Ronald Reagan vetoed it, effectively ending it.

“There was a bipartisan-supported bill that got passed in Congress to codify the Fairness Doctrine, but it was vetoed by Reagan”

Stuff You Should Know: Selects: How the Fairness Doctrine Worked (Jun 13, 2026) · Listen from 50:39

Clark notes the doctrine was formally removed in 2011 by the Obama administration's FCC, which he considers symbolically significant.

“It was officially repealed in 2011. And if you'll think back, that was under the Obama administration”

Stuff You Should Know: Selects: How the Fairness Doctrine Worked (Jun 13, 2026) · Listen from 55:12

Clark says he understands conservatives and libertarians viewing the doctrine as censorship and government overreach.

“Like, ideologically, this is censorship and the prohibition of the exercise of free speech”

Stuff You Should Know: Selects: How the Fairness Doctrine Worked (Jun 13, 2026) · Listen from 56:36

Clark argues that requiring broadcasters to show opposing viewpoints alongside their own is nearly impossible to argue against.

“hey, you can say this viewpoint. You also have to show the other viewpoint. To me, that's almost impossible to argue with”

Stuff You Should Know: Selects: How the Fairness Doctrine Worked (Jun 13, 2026) · Listen from 57:15