For decades, broadcast news and views in the Rochester area were both diverse and accessible. Radio and television stations were mostly individually-owned, and all maintained large, local news staffs.

Regularly or occasionally, free time was allotted to discuss vital local issues. Few observers could contend that local news wasn't broadly and responsibly disseminated in the public interest.

Throughout those decades, federal regulations (the Fairness Doctrine) required that since the airwaves are owned by the public, stations had to present all sides on important issues, both local and national. Otherwise the stations' licenses could have been in jeopardy.

Recently, when WROC pulled the plug on the liberal call-in program Air America Radio, local listeners were advised to tune in to a small Buffalo station. That's when local fairness and balance - and certainly accessibility - took a blow. The decision left only one major station still presenting a semblance of local views - WXXI public broadcasting.

If not for the Democrat and Chronicle, which publishes opinions and columnists of various hues, where would thoughtful Rochester-area citizens turn for a variety of informed national and local views?

Currently the views presented on local cable channels don't have even a nodding acquaintance with fairness and balance - unless you consider Fox's Bill O'Reilly, CNN's Glenn Beck, and ranting Lou Dobbs as balanced. Those right-wingers shouldn't be barred from presenting their views, but not at the expense of the public's voice and a broad range of views that nourish an informed citizenry.

For decades, one local radio station, WHAM, has made no pretense of fairness and balance, regularly airing Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, and for local diversion, the homegrown controversialist Bob Lonsberry.

The US Constitution may prohibit Congress from enacting laws restricting freedom of the press, but that hasn't prevented rightwing corporations from an ominous campaign of gobbling up stations as they strong-arm advertising into their content.

It's often asked why there should be regulation of radio and television when printed media aren't regulated. The reason is that while theoretically anyone can publish a newspaper, there have been a limited number of airwaves, so the government had to ensure that those airwaves provided accurate and reliable information about important local and national matters.

Since the Federal Communications Act was adopted seven decades ago, the broadcast media have changed substantially. In addition to the airwaves, radio and television are now transmitted by cable and by satellite, as well as by other means. Other technologies are on the horizon.

The abrupt Air America Radio departure - choking off a broad range of views -is clearly a resounding step in the wrong direction.

Congressional candidates who care about this misuse of publicly owned resources should take steps to validate our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms by restoring some semblance of the Fairness Doctrine.

MITCHELL KAIDY, BRIGHTON