Fairness doctrine was eliminated by the FCC, although it's said that pressure was being put on it by Reagan. Why? there was money to be made. It was put into place in 1949, with the ideal that that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was — in the Commission's view — honest, equitable, and balanced. The actual wording of it was formally dropped in 2011. What happened? Besides opening the floodgates for "fake news" it polarized the nation's perception to reality.
In writing, which includes news reporting, the basic layout of an article should be tell the audiance what you're going to tell them (headline) tell them what you have to say, (the story) and tell them what you just told them (the recap) The recap was always a place for editorializing. This would include both the negative and positive aspects of the story. Likewise, it had the stipulation to require the broadcaster to present opposing views. 60 Minutes used that for years with their Point/Counter-Point segments.Today, it's a rarity, and shows that actually use dissenting views are limited to comedy shows that present parody news.
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