Boy I was being sarcastic when I made this comment in another thread but it didn't take them long to make me a prophet... Ministry of Truth U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers Tue Mar 24, 2009 3:05pm EDT By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks. "This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin. A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs. Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies. Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements. Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempt, and contributions to support news coverage or operations could be tax deductible. Because newspaper profits have been falling in recent years, "no substantial loss of federal revenue" was expected under the legislation, Cardin's office said in a statement. Cardin's office said his bill was aimed at preserving local and community newspapers, not conglomerates which may also own radio and TV stations. His bill would also let a non-profit buy newspapers owned by a conglomerate. "We are losing our newspaper industry," Cardin said. "The economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy. Newspaper subscriptions and advertising have shrunk dramatically in the past few years as Americans have turned more and more to the Internet or television for information. In recent months, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Rocky Mountain News, the Baltimore Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle have ceased daily publication or announced that they may have to stop publishing. In December the Tribune Company, which owns a number of newspapers including The Baltimore Sun, The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times filed for bankruptcy protection. Two newspaper chains, Gannett Co Inc and Advance Publications, on Monday announced employee furloughs. It will be the second furlough this year at Gannett. (Additional reporting by Chuck Abbott) (Editing by David Storey)
How to save the newspaper business step 1 dont post local articles on the internet for free step 2 realize that step 1 is all I needed to do
If step 1 is taken, the local newspaper becomes even more irrelevant, and faster. Your advice is like dying by assisted suicide instead of a slow death. It won't save local newspapers at all.
Do you know how internet sites for blogs post their news, they copy them from the newspapers internet sights. If newspapers were to do this people would not search the net for local stories. I would actually kill the blog craze.
Glancing over the thread title, I thought this was going to be a newspaper bailout bill. A tax exemption for newspapers? I'd support that.
Is your point that newspapers are obsolete and deserve to die, or that government shouldn't be giving money to anyone?
I agree with that logic, but there are far deeper reasons for the decline of the print media. They include: 1) Print news is slow -- the delivery system is far less than instantaneous. 2) Print can do color but not movement for ads and stories. 3) Print is far more expensive -- newsprint (lots of trees must die), printing and circulation costs are high. Also, you can do an online newspaper with just reporters, editors, ad salesfolk and graphic artists -- nobody else is needed. 4) Younger people are electronically-oriented -- they don't have the patience to browse and read. Marshall McLuhan was 50 years of ahead of his time when he divided the public into "Gutenberg" and "Electronic" readers. I doubt if "classic" newspapers will be around in five years.
All of that is true, but I look at this as a lifeline to help newspapers transition to an online model. That is almost definitely the future, but it's going to take some time to get there and figure out where the money is going to come from. If this bill buys them another year or two, without really costing the taxpayers anything, I really don't see any negatives. And by the way, as has been repeatedly mentioned, newspapers are responsible for the majority of news currently on the web. Their current format is obsolete, but they will take down most news media if they fall.
I'm not sure if this proposal is a good idea or a bad idea, but I don't understand the recurring mentality that we must fix broken business models. If the business model if flawed and the business doesn't fix it, seems like they should fail. If that leaves a void in the market, don't you think someone will step in with a better model and fill the void?
Virtually all large and medium-sized newspapers already have on-line editions. Chains are already getting creative. For example, William Randolph Hearst, owner of the Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, San Francisco Chronicle, etc. is lining up a deal to supply Kindle 2 machines free to Hearst newspaper subscribers. However, this bailout to the Fourth Estate is very dangerous. The media already is skewed well to the left. This would make them not only friendly but obligated as well. IMO, the former watch dogs will be further inbred to be lap dogs.
With all due respect, I don't think you appreciate the definition of wingnut. Apparently, you have been programmed to think wingnut is a slur. Just as gay means "blythe and happy," not homosexual, wingnut means "a type of a nut with wings that provide a grip for the thumb and finger." They are important in keeping machinery together. However, if you use it politically, you are unfairly lumping a "far right" and a "far left" person in the same gruel. Let's strive to be more precise. Thanks.
My apologies. He is a regular Nutstrodamas of the lunatic far right wingnut fringe and a wingnut short of...nevermind...
