Interestingly, I did a little research on the fairness doctrine and that was used to justify telling negative stories about Dems every time a Rep did something bad. In other words, the intent was good, but the execution wasn't. If I remember correctly, that's why the Obama administration wanted to get rid of it.

But I agree 100% with your thinking. We do need something like it, but I suspect it needs to be written differently--especially in light of how we've seen it perverted to give cover to people who don't deserve it.