On this day in 1987, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to rescind the Fairness Doctrine, which required radio and television stations to present balanced coverage of controversial issues. In the 1987 case Meredith Corp. v. FCC, a federal appeals court in Washington D.C. declared that Congress did not mandate the doctrine, and that the FCC did not have to continue to enforce it. The FCC abolished the doctrine by a 4-0 vote.