U.S. Senators Consider Options For Ailing Newspapers.

[elleng]

Source: NYT/Reuters

The U.S. government could provide tax breaks for newspapers or allow them to operate as nonprofits to help the struggling business survive, Sen. John Kerry said Wednesday.

Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said Congress can help the industry hit by a collapse in advertising revenue, debt that is getting harder to repay and the drift of print subscribers to free online news websites.

Without newspapers, Kerry and other lawmakers said at a Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday, there will be too few journalists investigating governments, companies and individuals.



Read more: http://nytimes.com/reuters/2009/05/06/us/politics/politics-us-media-newspapers-congress.html

[Downwinder]

1. Why bail them all out?

"Without newspapers, Kerry and other lawmakers said at a Senate subcommittee hearing Wednesday, there will be too few journalists investigating governments, companies and individuals."

Why not just the ones that do investigative reporting?

Scrap the press release only repeaters.

Press release can be published on the web and save the trees. Sounds like the Pols are worrying about not getting their names in the paper.

[rpannier]

2. US Senators consider ZERO options for ailing Americans

The US government continues to do zilch for Americans struggling with mounting job loses, inadequate health care and rising debt.

[wisteria]

6. That is not a true statement. Ailing Americans are receiving help.

Kerry has introduced legislation that corrects the practice of health care providers charging more for women's policies than men. And, today, the senate took up more mortgage help for those in trouble. The things you want are complicated and take time and I am sure they are being discussed.

[Baby Snooks]

7. There was a little hope today...

But considering and doing it are two differen things. We will see what happens tomorrow. And the day after.

As for health care the reality is a growing number of Americans cannot afford health care. We need, as Helen Thomas put it, Medicare for all.

[Downwinder]

10. Careful what you ask for.

My Medicare plus Medigap and Part D cost over $300 per month.

[Iowa]

11. Wow... is Medicare/Medigap/Part D really that cheap?

I had no idea. I pay over $1,500 per month for a family plan. From my vantage point, $300/month is practically free.

[Downwinder]

12. That does not include medication copay. You should consider a job with your government.

I tried to put a link in but it did not work.

Here is the URL http://www.opm.gov/insure/index.aspx

[Iowa]

23. My $1500 plus/month doesn't include deductibles and copays either...

And I DO have insurance via a government job - that's what insurance companies are charging State employees for a family plan with decent coverage these days. My premium is a pretty good reflection of the price of unsubsidized health care in a for-profit health system that is completely off the rails.

But I presume your plan is single coverage, so we're comparing apples and oranges here, but still... $300 plus for single coverage is pretty cheap. State employees are paying $650 for single coverage (plus deductibles and co-pays) for decent coverage. Plans can be had for around $400, but you're getting into some junk coverage there.

So ya, I'd take decent coverage for $300 plus/month in a heartbeat. I simply don't have access to such a thing.

[Iowa]

24. One more thing you might find interesting...

In 2008, total health care spending came to $2.4 trillion or $7,800 per person. This comes to $650 per month... about what State employees are paying now for decent coverage.

http://spotlightonpoverty.org/ExclusiveCommentary.aspx?id=19b57f85-3b5d-49a8-be75-436f8e21678a

[Fumesucker]

14. I'd probably best put on my Nomex Underoos for this..

But in my experience women tend to utilize medical services considerably more than men.

I'll freely admit that I could well be wrong and I'm going strictly on anecdotes but I've read quite a few comments on DU over the last few years that tend to make me think I'm correct.

[alarimer]

26. It doesn't mean the premiums should be higher.

In fact premiums for single-payer should come directly from taxes and be based on a sliding scale. You make more money, you pay more into the system (but still a relatively trivial amount, plus no deductibles or copays).

Still, if you are correct about that statistic, it's probably no coincidence that women live longer. Men tend not to get the preventive care they need.

[lovuian]

27. exactly they need that propoganda machine

thats why they will bail them out

Kerry kissing Murdoch in a tree

[Amonester]

3. There are a lot of *truer* journalists investigating governments on DU...

and at many other places.

*Truer* journalists that are not sold-out to the highest bidder...

But who in the Senate ever bother to read their reports?

[Downwinder]

4. Magazines are finding that investigative articles boost circulation.

If things get tight enough, maybe newspapers will rediscover that.

[wisteria]

5. These truer jounalists you speak of on places like DU may be excellent, but you can not deny bias

in reporting. Newspapers have this to some extent, but there is still a push to be open minded and fair.

[Baby Snooks]

8. They knew this was coming...

The media knew the internet was changing the face of the media and it has. Reality is we either subsidize the print media or we lose it. I am not sure we want to lose our newspapers. And perhaps subsidizing them might remove the one thing that has changed the face of the media more than anything else. The coercion of the advertising dollars.

That was a concern to Katherine Graham when Ben Bradlee dumped Watergate in her lap. She was willing to lose it all for truth. She probably would have lost it all today.

[SpartanDem]

9. It's not just investigative journalism

but diversity of opinion with the loss of editorial voices .

[Chef Eric]

13. Let the newspapers die. They DESERVE to die.

Did they question the Bush administration's claims about WMDs in Iraq? No. Did they adequately investigate the no-bid contracts and war-profiteering? No. Did they ask questions about how and why Valerie Plame was outed? No. Did they report on media-manipulation via plants such as Jeff Gannon and Armstrong Williams? No.

And now we are supposed to prop the newspapers up with our tax dollars? They don't deserve our tax dollars, and there is no reason to believe that they would put our tax dollars to good use.

[Festivito]

15. Give everyone internet access and let the market decide...

Which news sources the people use most.

[Uncle Joe]

28. Philadelphia Freedom, national wireless for everyone.

:thumbsup:

[high density]

16. Hey Kerry, I want to operate as a non-profit

Fucking jokers.

[Cass]

17. Not all newspapers are victims of the internet - some are just not worth the paper they are printed

on. My local paper is a good example of this.

The local section is usually only 1 or 2 pages of news stories and they have about 6 different editions depending on what area of the county you live in. This is not a huge area like NYC or LA mind you - its an area with a population of about 550,000 yet if I want to read about what is going on 10 minutes away my local section doesn't cover it, I have to buy the edition for that area. WTF. They also rely heavily on transcribing police scanner info, press releases and AP releases.

If they would do some decent reporting, do some good investigative journalism on the local level and quit this multiple edition thing I would gladly subscribe, but as it stands now that paper is fish wrap.

[nichomachus]

18. No papers are "victims of the Internet"

They killed themselves when they just became corporate "profit centers" and when ownership became unhinged from management. The Internet just administered the coup de grace.

I wrote a rather long post on this the other day

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3860495&mesg_id=3861231

[Cass]

19. You could have been writing about my local paper in your post.

Very interesting and informative post from an insider's perspective. Thank you!

[sofa king]

20. Yeah, I got an option: fuck 'em.

Looking back, I don't think the American newspapers have focused on honest or accurate reporting since Richard Nixon left town. And they weren't focusing on honest or accurate reporting before Richard Nixon got there.

So thanks, American newspapers. You had a great five years somewhere in the early 1970s.

[sofa king]

21. But Walter Pincus says it better.

http://www.cjr.org/essay/newspaper_narcissism_1.php?page=all

"Manipulation of the media was taken to its highest form by George W. Bush’s administration. It built, however, on what went on before."

[classysassy]

22. "My piggy bank"

hello congress,I am in dire straits my piggy bank is empty,send help a.s.a.p.,nickels,dimes and quarters will do,t.y..

[bemildred]

25. Bailouts for the Mighty Wurlitzer.

Who is going to feed us propaganda if the News Media are not there to do the job?