Get News & Views Updates
Most Popular This Week
- Who Can Own Life? Farmer vs. Monsanto Before US High Court
- Profiting From Human Misery
- Scale Implosion: After Ruining America, the Era of Giant Chain Stores Is Over
- Decolonize the Consumerist Wasteland: Re-imagining a World Beyond Capitalism and Communism
- 5 Reasons Why the Keystone XL Pipeline is Bad for the Economy
Popular content
Today's Top News
US Bill Seeks to Rescue Faltering Newspapers
WASHINGTON - 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.
A newspaper box stands near The General Motors world headquarters November 7, 2008 in downtown Detroit, Michigan. US newspapers are in a state "perilously close to free fall" and time is running short for them to find a business model and reinvent themselves, according to a study released on Monday. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Bill Pugliano) "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)
- Posted in
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
3 Comments so far
Show AllWe will never overcome the industrial havoc we are wreaking on the living systems of this planet if we don't, at the very least, allow failed business models to actually fail...this is what happens when you're economy is largely based on non-essential purchases...readers don't care and advertisers don't care...
Interesting restrictions on political speech: I can understand the wish to maintain a once-upon-a-time vital avenue of propaganda and advertising distribution, but are newspapers really effective in that role at this point, anyway? Certainly, the MSM lost whatever investigative credibility they had left, as did NPR (interesting comparison of non-profit newspapers to public broadcasting, also), following 911...one-sided, administration-supported debate positions were adopted by all...
Is this moe psychological? If newspapers still exists, is still able to be held in the hands, no matter the financing or content, the world is still okay? Kind of like a Radio Flyer wagon?
Why are newspapers in decline?
1) The corporate for-profit newspapers are forcused on profit maximization.
2) To maximize profit means to maximize advertising revenue.
3) The adverisers willing to pay for expensive advertising want to see their advertising reaching the people who will buy their products.
4) The articles, news stories, opinion and editorial sections, and especially the "business section" are "framed" or biased on the economic and educational demographics of college graduates, wealthy and upper middle class people who would potentially be "in the market" to respond to the adverisements.
5) Thus the newspapers all full of advertisements for: expensive cars, homes, clothes, restaurants, luxury travel, expensive home furnishings, etc. which most average working people can not afford.
6) With the continued decline in the economy, with the majority of people having little or no "disposable" income. with most people are maxed out on credit cards, most people are no longer mindless "CONSUMERS" addicted to shopping like a zombie.
In other words the newspapers have lost their conservative wealthy readership. The conservative newspapers are CLASS NEWSPAPERS. Their opinion sections necessarily never reflect any perspective that is pro-labor or for the economic interests of working people.
In every major newspaper there are columns, editorials, reflecting the class bias of the owners and advertisers and class biased readership.
There is always a "BUSINESS" section or "MONEY" or STOCK MARKET REPORTS for the major newspapers.
There is NEVER a section, NOT EVEN A SINGLE COLUMN, in any major newspapers that reflect the economic news that would be of interest, importance to working people.
THERE IS NEVER A REGULAR NEWS COLUMN ABOUT UNION ACTIVITIES.
THERE IS NEVER A REGULAR FEATURE TALKING ABOUT THE ECONOMY FROM THE PERSPECTIVE AND NEEDS OF WORKING PEOPLE.
What about affordable housing in our city? (Who can afford million dollar mansions?)
What ar city politicans doing to imporove public education, especially in poorest neighborhoods? Why are vitally needed hospitals being shut down?
Where are the jobs? Who is hiring? What is any news about local strikes?(perhaps opposing the interest of a major advertiser?) What are the economic conditions faced by working people?
Where is the information, posted daily, for those needing health care, affordable housing, food stamps, section 8 housing, etc.etc.etc.
THE NEEDS OF THE VAST MAJORITY OF WORKING PEOPLE ARE NOW OVERWHELMING!
HOWEVER there is NOT ONE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER in the UNITED STATES that bothers to provide this information. Why? Because it is censored out because it may be viewed as being opposed to the CLASS BIAS of MAJOR NEWSPAPERS.
The real NEEDS of the mass of potential readers to daily newspapers are simply of no concern to the CLASS WAR conservative newspapers.
Finally, they really don't give a damn because there is no profit in serving the informational needs of working people!
So who cares if these dailies go out of business?
GOOD RIDDANCE!
My local paper's favorite columnist is Charles Krauthammer, the LTTE page is a competition to see who can out crazy everyone else - not just locally either, they try to out crazy the entire Effing world. Let the damned papers die, save a tree.