Problem:  Over the past 30 years Congress has been relaxing the laws that govern media companies that had been designed to ensure that they honored their responsibility to serve the public good.  One of these laws was the Fairness Doctrine which required media outlets that allowed political commentary to offer equal time to parties with opposing points of view.  This prevented access to the media being limited to those with large amounts of funding behind them.  These restrictions were enacted in recognition that media companies utilize public resources such as the public airwaves and therefore have a responsibility to serve the public fairly and equally.  The Fairness Doctrine has been eliminated and now the only parties that are able to afford media access are those backed by large amounts of money.  The average Congressperson has to raise about $2,000 a day the entire time they are in office to be able to purchase enough media time to have a chance of reelection.

Problem:  Mainstream news organizations tend to avoid covering controversial stories; particularly those that might upset government officials and their supporters.

Solution: Grass roots television networks have emerged that use public access and alternative media distribution services to cover these kinds of controversial stories.