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Senator seeks to save newspapers
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Democratic Senator Benjamin Cardin of Maryland introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at assisting the struggling newspaper industry. The Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to claim tex exempt status, but would ban the papers from making political endorsements.
Revenue from advertising and subscriptions would be exempt from taxes and donations made to support the paper's coverage of news or its general operations could be tax deductible.
Cardin admits that the bill is not ideal, but at this point it maybe the best option available: "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."
This comes at a particularly bad time for newspapers. Newspapers circulation and has dropped dramatically in recent years as people are depending more on television, radio, and especially the internet, to receive their news. The Ann Arbor News became the latest casualty when it announced Monday that it was going to cease operations in July. THis on top of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Rocky Mountain News, the Baltimore Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle either ceasing operations or seriously suggesting that they may have to do so.
Large newspaper based corporations are not doing do so well either.
Gannett Company Inc and Advance Publications announced a furlough of employees Monday. According to Reuters, this was the second time this year that Gannett had to furlough its workers this year.
This past December saw the Tribune Company, which owns The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times, declare bankruptcy.
The 150 year old Rocky Mountain News ceased operations in late February and the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News announced on December 16th that that intend to cut deliveries to just three days a week as well as reducing their print editions in order to encourage use of their online edition.
"We're here because we're fighting for our survival. We're also here because we have an absolute resolve to not only save but rethink and rebuild two of the greatest newspapers in this country." said Free Press publisher and chief executive of the partnership, David Hunke.
According to WFAA.com "four owners of 33 U.S. daily newspapers have sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the past 2 1/2 months."
The proposed bill is aimed at helping smaller newspapers and not large conglomerates. The loss of the smaller papers is something that Cardin believes the U.S. can ill afford:"As local papers are closing, we're losing a valuable tradition in America — critically important to our communities, critically important to our democracy."
To be brutally honest, the attempt by Mr. Cardin to save smaller newspapers will ultimately prove to be an futile endeavor. The widespread access to the internet as well as the ubiquitous TV, have made newspapers an endangered species for years. The newspaper could survive incursions by TV and radio because neither could present the news in the same depth as a paper, but that is not an issue with the internet.
The internet not only presents the same material to you in a easier to navigate manner--there isn't a need to go from page A1 to page A13 online-- but also offers the reader the ability to access newspapers from anywhere around the globe that are online. A person read the New York Times one minute and the Times of India the next. A print paper simply cannot compete with the sheer volume and diversity of information that the internet offers at the touch of a finger.
The only arguments against internet news agencies is that it isn't good for use as lavatory reading material or a fogeyish love for the newspaper.Those are hardly good reasons to bailout a business model that is losing relevance.
Newspapers have been a fact of life for Americans since the earliest days of this nation. Americans have spent billions over the centuries in purchasing papers so they can be informed about what is going on in the nation and the world. But times change. As sad as it is to see printers and delivery people lose their jobs, the reality is that the internet provides the reader access to an overwhelmingly amount of information almost instantaneously in the comfort of their home at anytime they want to peruse.
Senator Cardin would be better off seeking funds to build bridges to Terabithia than trying to save an industry that is quickly going the way of the Baiji Dolphin.
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