Supreme Court upholds the Fairness Doctrine in Red Lion v. FCC

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upholds the FCC Fairness Doctrine in Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC. Justice Byron White writes that broadcasters'' First Amendment rights are not absolute because they use the public spectrum — a finite resource — under government license. The Court rules the FCC can require balanced coverage as a condition of holding a broadcast license. This ruling gives the Fairness Doctrine constitutional standing and signals to future administrations that license-based content pressure survives First Amendment challenges. The scarcity rationale — that the government owns the airwaves and can attach conditions to their use — becomes the precedent invoked whenever officials threaten to revoke broadcast licenses over editorial decisions.