# Should the term "Fake News" be regulated in it's public use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 16, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-term-fake-news-be-regulated-in-its-public-use/853930 "2020-05-16T16:49:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-term-fake-news-be-regulated-in-its-public-use/853930/41 "2020-05-26T20:35:20Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > What I mean is, in this thread there seem to be a couple of ideas, which sort of verge on a Conspiracy Theory: > > 1. That there are some kind of Official Federal Regulations about what “news” is, _but that_ > 2. The “Fox News Channel”, in spite of its name and its entire “brand” as a _news_ channel, is somehow secretly evading the Official Federal Regulations by cleverly specifying (somehow) that they are _really_ “entertainment”–even though their name is Fox _News_ and their entire corporate identity, as a channel, is as a “News Network”. > > As far as I can tell, none of this is true. There are no Official Regulations in the United States about what “news” is (or isn’t), it would be unconstitutional to attempt to enact any such regulations, and furthermore, it would be a really bad idea in any event. > > I mean, think about who’s in charge of the U.S. federal government right now, and imagine, if there were such Official Regulations, which news channel would be able to smugly display its Official Presidential Seal of Approval as a _Real_ News Channel, and which news channels and other media organizations would have to run some kind of disclaimer: > > In accordance with the Communications Act of 1937, we are officially classified as “Fiction/Entertainment”. We have not been living in the same communications environment since 1937. There were standards before, in many of our lifetimes, and they are gone now. “Fairness” was the aim. There was a limited spectrum that the fairness referred to. “Fairness” is gone, because the spectrum is not precious anymore. All this 1984 totalitarian stuff you are talking about, it was normal stuff under a limited broadcast spectrum. Do you remember? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-term-fake-news-be-regulated-in-its-public-use/853930/42 "2020-05-26T21:12:34Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > There was a limited spectrum that the fairness referred to. “Fairness” is gone, because the spectrum is not precious anymore. The scarcity of the broadcast spectrum was precisely the justification for the Fairness Doctrine. There is no scarcity of cable channels, or scarcity of websites. And the Fairness Doctrine never did apply to newspapers–nowadays, [newspapers](https://www.washingtonpost.com/) and [“cable” news](https://www.cnn.com/) are all in the same “place”. > [@](#): > > All this 1984 totalitarian stuff you are talking about, it was normal stuff under a limited broadcast spectrum. Do you remember? Whatever his flaws, Ronald Reagan was no Donald Trump. Howard Baker was no Mitch McConnell. So, just to be clear, you are advocating that the United States government should promulgate regulations declaring which media channels or organizations are “news” and which are “fake news”? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-term-fake-news-be-regulated-in-its-public-use/853930/43 "2020-05-26T22:20:19Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > The scarcity of the broadcast spectrum was precisely the justification for the Fairness Doctrine. There is no scarcity of cable channels, or scarcity of websites. And the Fairness Doctrine never did apply to newspapers–nowadays, [newspapers](https://www.washingtonpost.com/) and [“cable” news](https://www.cnn.com/) are all in the same “place”. > > Whatever his flaws, Ronald Reagan was no Donald Trump. Howard Baker was no Mitch McConnell. > > So, just to be clear, you are advocating that the United States government should promulgate regulations declaring which media channels or organizations are “news” and which are “fake news”? I’m asking whether you remember any restrictions on broadcasters “news”? How old are you? We have certainly lived under regulations about what is an opinion, what is news, what is an opposing opinion, etc, for most of our lives, most of us. At that time, it seems to me, democracy was in much better shape. I don’t know what Reagan is referring to. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-term-fake-news-be-regulated-in-its-public-use/853930/44 "2020-05-26T23:31:41Z")
I do not think giving Donald Trump (and William Barr) the power to officially decide what counts as “news” (and what counts as “fake news”) will improve the health of our democracy. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-term-fake-news-be-regulated-in-its-public-use/853930/45 "2020-05-27T01:07:53Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > I do not think giving Donald Trump (and William Barr) the power to officially decide what counts as “news” (and what counts as “fake news”) will improve the health of our democracy. It wasn’t mooted. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-term-fake-news-be-regulated-in-its-public-use/853930/46 "2020-05-27T16:45:00Z")
The majority of what is broadcast today on all news channels is editorial. There is very little true fact reporting, that leaves the viewer to come to their own opinion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-term-fake-news-be-regulated-in-its-public-use/853930.md?page=2)