Though an interesting discussion, Lawton's solution to the woes of the MSM rags amounts to nothing more than tweaking Sen. Benjamin Cardin's recently introduced MSM Newspaper Bailout Bill ("The Newspaper Revitalization Act") to include a different tax exemption:
Lastly, instead of being granted 501(c)(3) status, these media outlets should be able to apply for a completely separate tax exemption that has no restrictions on political content.Lawton ends with an eloquent, inspirational tale of society on the cusp of yet another brilliant, successful government intervention to save an incompetent and outdated industry:
Yes, the road ahead for journalism is long and winding, but if the government uses a smart, flexible approach, it can assist in breathing life back into an institution America can't afford to let die.Mr. Lawton, I'm curious as to what other fast-fading private sector institutions America (translation: the American taxpayer) "can't afford to let die"?
Ha, nothing like trolling through Google and finding criticism of a column I wrote. Look, I'm also very uneasy about the government bailing out journalism, but I think this industry is too fundamentally important to our democracy to fail.
ReplyDeleteNewspapers are going to die eventually, and that's fine. The medium is slowly becoming anachronistic and eventually everything will move online. Right now, those revenue models just aren't set up, and for this reason I would support the government helping bridge the gap.
Regardless, what's your angle here? From your about section, you seem to be doing nothing but cheerleading for journalism's demise.
Also, if you're interested in liberal bias in journalism, which I assume you are, then check out this post I recently wrote on my blog about the political affiliations of professors at journalism schools. http://www.danlawton.com/2009/05/13/do-journalism-schools-need-more-conservatives/