Should the Government Help Save Newspapers?
With newspapers failing, some on the left say federal help–tax breaks, perhaps–could save an industry that is key to democracy. Conservatives say the market and taxpayers have decided, and no one wants a paper that's beholden to lawmakers anyway. Should the government help save newspapers?
Edited by Steve St. Angelo
Yes
Across the nation, small towns and big cities are losing something irreplaceable—their local news.
Benjamin L. Cardin,
a Democratic senator from Maryland, was a member of the House from 1987 to 2006.
From conservative publications to more liberal media outlets, all have been affected by changes in the newspaper industry that have made it increasingly difficult to survive as an independent voice. Do we need to create new options that will help ensure the survival of investigative and insightful reporting that is most often done today by newspapers? I believe we do....
No
In a very real sense, your daily newspaper is the most incredible bargain in the world.
L. Brent Bozell III is founder and president of the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog group.
For only two bits, you can unfold dozens of pages and find scores of news stories, on everything from national defense to local parades. The newspaper gives you a passport to foreign lands and a trip to the bleachers of baseball games.
And yet, the newspaper industry is dying. Denver's Rocky Mountain News, the Baltimore Examiner, and the Cincinnati Post...
What do you think?
Reader Comments
Obsolete
Newspapers are just obsolete; they are dinosaurs and will die no matter what.
The only reason my wife gets the paper on Sundays is for the coupons, she’ll prefer to get just the coupons and not to have to recycle all the paper that nobody looks at anyway. All the news we read are from the internet that are better balanced than the biased local paper.
News on Paper
It's about time they went under! On Huffpost and venues like USNEWS.com, I can express my opinion and see what others are saying. My local paper, The Jersey Journal, hardly publishes letters to the editor any more.
Also, the waste of our natural resources is ludicrous; for what, large perfume ads?
Some successful small newspapers have even sold out to local politicians.It is no secret that th North Bergen Reporter publishes no negative letters because Mayor Sacco takes out 5 quarter page ads a week announcing yet another senior citizen function.
What about timeliness? A newspaper is already 24 hours old by the time you get it. Our world is moving too fast for that snail's pace.
No, give me this electronic venue from here on out.
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