Ronald Reagan dropped the FCC requirements for balanced reporting.

The claim says that under Ronald Reagan the FCC requirements for balanced reporting (the Fairness Doctrine) were dropped. True: FCC records or histories show the FCC abolished or stopped enforcing the Fairness Doctrine during Reagan's presidency (1981–1989) and that Reagan's administration drove or backed this (for example an FCC led by Reagan appointees, or Reagan's veto of the 1987 bill to codify the doctrine). Mostly true: it was dropped during Reagan's term by the FCC as an independent agency, and Reagan's role was support (appointees, the veto) rather than a direct act, a minor imprecision in the attribution. Mostly false: the requirement was repealed or ended mainly outside Reagan's term or without real link to his administration, though something related happened under him. False: no balanced-reporting requirement was dropped during Reagan's presidency, or it was dropped clearly under another administration with no Reagan-era role.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (Media Bureau order DA 11-1432) · 24 August 2011

   “The Commission abrogated the fairness doctrine in 1987, after concluding that it no longer served the public interest, was not statutorily mandated, and was inconsistent with First Amendment values.”

2. E2 Fairness Doctrine: History and Constitutional Issues Congressional Research Service (via congressionalresearch.com) · 30 September 2008

   “In 1987, after a period of study, the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine.”

3. E3 Fairness Doctrine Ronald Reagan Presidential Library · 21 August 2025

   “The bill passed but the legislation was vetoed by President Ronald Reagan.”

4. E4 Fairness Doctrine Ronald Reagan Presidential Library · 21 August 2025

   “In 1987, the FCC panel, under new chairman Dennis Patrick, repealed the Fairness Doctrine altogether with a 4-0 vote”

The FCC's own order (E1) and a Congressional Research Service report (E2) both say the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, which falls within Reagan's presidency. The Reagan Library describes the repeal as a 4-0 vote of the FCC panel under chairman Dennis Patrick (E4), and says Reagan vetoed the bill that would have codified the doctrine (E3). So the doctrine was dropped during Reagan's term with his administration's backing through the veto, but the act of dropping it was the FCC's as an independent agency. That small imprecision in the attribution fits "mostly true" under the criteria.