Banzhaf was lounging at home during the Thanksgiving holiday of 1966 (watching the omnipresent cigarette ads) when his mind raced to an obscure legal clause. In 1949, Congress had issued the “fairness doctrine,” which held that public broadcast media had to allow “fair” airtime to opposing viewpoints on controversial issues. (Congress had reasoned that since the broadcast media used a public resource—airwaves—they should reciprocate by performing a public function, by providing balanced information on controversial issues.) The doctrine was little known and little used. But Banzhaf began to
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