Here we go…
Earlier this week, I reported that Barack Obama is open to a newspaper bailout. And now, congress is meeting in order to “examine the importance of newspapers to our democracy throughout our nation’s history and the treacherous economic landscape they face.”
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney is reported to have said (from Editor and Publisher):
“The witnesses will review alternative funding options for newspapers in our new and ever-changing electronic age. Since the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the federal government has acknowledged that the press is an institution which is afforded special protections by name. In this spirit, I think that the government can help foster solutions for this industry in ways which protect the independence of newspapers and enables their objective reporting to thrive in a new economic and media climate.”
Now, alternate funding options? So, if a business fails at doing business, it needs to garner–which is a poor word because it implies work being involved–funds elsewhere…
“Government fostered solutions” to “protect the independence of newspapers” and enabling “objective reporting to thrive.”
Really? Does the above sentence make any sense? I didn’t think so. A free press is important, a free press beholden to the government isn’t free.
