Senate Newspaper Hearings To Begin May 6

Sen. John Kerry is wading into a fierce national debate next week by holding hearings on the future of newspapers. In a letter to the "Boston Globe family," Kerry wrote about his determination to help save newspapers. Excerpts of the letter were released by the Globe today.

"America's newspapers are struggling to survive and while there will be serious consequences in terms of the lives and financial security of the employees involved, including hundreds at the Globe, there will also be serious consequences for our democracy where diversity of opinion and strong debate are paramount"

This isn't the first attempt by the government to help restructure the newspaper industry. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) introduced legislation in March to make media companies into non-profit organizations to ensure survival.

In recent months, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Rocky Mountain News, the Baltimore Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others, have either ceased daily publication or announced that they may have to stop publishing. A number of other publications, including newspapers owned by the Tribune Company, owners of The Baltimore Sun, have filed for bankruptcy or have had to institute severe cutbacks that have impacted news coverage.

The Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as non-profits, if they choose, under 501(c)(3) status for educational purposes, similar to public broadcasting. Under this arrangement, newspapers would not be allowed to make political endorsements, but would be allowed to freely report on all issues, including political campaigns. Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempt and contributions to support coverage or operations could be tax deductible.

Kerry chairs the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet. His letter to the Globe family comes on the heels of recent threats by parent company The New York Times to shut down the Boston paper. On April 3rd, the Times reported it was considering an end to the paper:

The company is looking for $20 million in savings from The Globe, which has already gone through several rounds of deep cost-cutting and staff reductions. The company does not report figures by newspaper, but executives have acknowledged that the Globe lost tens of millions of dollars last year.

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Note: The Boston Globe originally reported the Kerry hearings would be held on April 30. Kerry's office informs us that they actually begin on May 6.

Comments

[simonesdad2008]

What does MTV have to do with the future of Newspapers? http://tr.im/jl4j

[Clarabell]

Some of us stopped buying Newspapers, like the SF Chronicle, when they started printed the "real" news on page A-18. Then they started giving the paper away practically for free, I guess to show how many "subscribers" they had. Then the price kept creeping up and up, and the paper started shrinking down and down. The only thing I miss is the Mail Bag in the Sunday real estate section. Other than that, it's good riddance.

[garymc8]

Let me get this straight, The CORPORATE OWNED MEDIA, is going down the tubes after 8 years of turning a blind eye to a spoiled rich kid president who lied us into wars, LOOTED US, spied on us, tortured others, destroyed the middle class and now after being his shill, nobody buys your lie rags anymore. Hey I will help... I'll call you and the gop a WHAMBULANCE. Let them DIE. Those are the people whose motto is " own the media, own the message". In a short time new news organizations will grow and replace the old with a renewed Journalistic Grass movement without corporate sponsors who wish to control the message.

[Openeyes]

This seems very little, very late.

The "Globe" example states that paper is on track to lose $85 million. Is it paying $85 million in taxes? If not, nonprofit status won't do much for it.

The papers are bleeding to death because the cost of everything has gone up, including paper, ink, and transportation. On top of that, revenues are way down as business cut back on advertising, and both advertisers and readers are leaving papers for the web.

Nonprofit status won't change any of that.

[econ1]

At some point our government has to stop supporting companies that aren't making it and support companies that are. Some news and reporting organizations are successfully transitioning to the future.

Yes, we have to keep the banks alive since without the flow of money we won't have an economy, but we don't have to keep them in the current form.

Supporting GM, Chrysler, some of the newspapers etc. just makes it harder for the relatively better run companies like Ford, maybe Gannet etc. to make it. If we keep layering debt and taxes on America's winning companies to support the losers we will be left with nothing.

The customers have shown that they don't need certain newspapers (companies) .....let the customers decide. We don't need Washington buying newspapers for us.

[blkbtrfly1]

Awwwhhh HE!! NO!

Let's not go here please. Decide the fact that we can't afford to bailout another entity. This muddies the free speech waters way too much for me.

Newspapers are going out of business because no one is buying them. END OF STORY!

[suec03]

Please read more carefully. I don't think this is about giving cash to newspapers. I think it is about allowing them to reincorporated as nonprofits, with restrictions against making campaign endorsements, in exchange for tax-exempt status.

[escribacat]

Without investigative journalists, there will be no checks and balances against big government and big business. Nobody to call them out. What's the point of having a free press without proper journalists?

[suec03]

Good point, escribacat. I think this is the reasoning behind the formation of ProPublica, to support investigative journalism.

[Stilts9]

Check out

firedoglake.com

dailykos.com

talkingpointsmemo.com

[tiotom77]

I really don't think we want to go there. The Government can control what news is printed. Spreading propaganda. Remember what happened in Germany in the 1930s.

[Avanti2]

That is exactly what happened in the USSR. Nothing was in Pravda that wasn't Government approved.

[suec03]

Under the Cardin proposal as described, the government would have no more control over nonprofit media than over churches. Both would be protected under the First Amendment. This is not about giving any money to newspapers--it is about allowing a nonprofit business model with tax-exempt status.

[escribacat]

Serious journalism is being replaced by inane twittering.

[Biyobi]

It's hilarious how the Repugs posting here can't decide which way to snipe.

Repugs: Out of money. Out of ideas. Out of office.

GOP FAIL

[Avanti2]

Let's see. Turn Newspapers into Non-Profits. Newspapers engage in Political Speech.

This mean that Church's, also Non-Profits, would then be allowed to engage in Political Speech.
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It doesn't look like Sir Kerry has thought this through.

[suec03]

Newspapers accepting the restrictions of the proposed tax code change allowing for nonprofit status would not be allowed to endorse candidates or parties, but could still be free to write about issues like what kind of health care reform is best. You could have a variety of nonprofit news outlets, some conservative, some liberal, some somewhere in between.

[Avanti2]

Who would Police that?

Sounds like a stealth Lawyer Full Employment Act to me.

[Dunderslapoldmen]

c'mon mod..let's get on with it...appro­ve my photo..!!

[parrotkisser]

Thanks for the warning.

[october2009]

In the early 1900's, people used to get ice delivered to their doors, but then the refrigerator was invented which drove all the ice delivery companies out of business..­.

Economists call this natural progression "Creative Destruction".

Should our government have bailed out the ice delivery companies? Obviously not.

The internet has naturally replaced the archaic and wasteful newspaper industry.

People should get their news from this glorious unregulated internet and let the newspaper companies go out of business. The people who work at those companies will inevitably find work doing something else productive that our society actually needs.

[Dunderslapoldmen]

It's all strange october.. we still pay farmers NOT to plant...go figure

[october2009]

Off course our politicians do. If the small farmers grew crops and sold them, they would compete against the politically connected agribusine­sses...

99% of our regulations that are sold to us by our elected officials are to protect the big special interests from having any competition. While they'd like us to believe that it's to protect us, they're clearly just protecting the "too-big-t­oo-fail's" from losing their market share.

[calickizzle]

Who's going to pay for the reporters to provide info for this glorious, unregulated- and, mostly, free- Internet to be a trusted, reliable source of news? (granted, most papers aren't these days, which is part of the problem, and why a 501(c)3 status could correct...­.)

[october2009]

Are you serious?

You realize that HuffingtonPost.com is an unregulated news website that makes money selling ad space to advertisers, right?

Huff Post has a paid staff... The newspaper companies should switch into internet only. Period.

[givesflack]

And once the newspapers are gone and the cost of using the internet comes into play the big business will take over that too that's why we have to protect news, it's not ice cream or corn- it's about saving Democracy, something you will not find in your frozen food isle..Jesu­s

[october2009]

There's plenty of Democracy on the Internet. This website is one great example of that.

[Kelsey Ness]

Think about it: WHO are making the big ad buys? Probably 28-35 year olds

There's your answer. The video game generation

[NeptuneDude]

scary thought...­.

They should try reading a book, going for a walk or reading a newspaper for once. There is more to life than sitting around a computer blogging your thoughts..­...

[Avanti2]

Really, are you sure of that ?

It sure is easier than trying to walk my cat after the county, in all there Government Wisdom, recently enacted a Cat Leash Law.

[suec03]

The Cardin non-profit proposal as described sounds like an interesting option. I hope the IRS would strictly limit itself to policing "endorsement" type activity, so that such nonprofit news outlets could still apply a critical eye to government action and policies and corporate behavior. They should still be allowed to do news analysis and editorials provided they do not endorse parties or candidates. This seems to be about allowing them the tax advantages of nonprofit status. Beyond that, I do not see the US government issuing any further financial assistance to news outlets, partly because it would tend to compromise the role of journalists in being a watchdog, a role that is already compromised in the for-profit model.

[NeptuneDude]

Excellent points