Government appointee advocates newspaper bailout
Posted by Simon Day on April 17, 2009 at 5:03 AM
Former freelance Los Angeles Times columnist Rosa Brooks, who recently joined the Obama administration as an advisor to the undersecretary of defense for policy, has expressed support for a comprehensive, government-based, bailout plan for the ailing newpaper industry.
In her final LA Times column April 9, Brooks wrote, "Years of foolish policies have left us with a choice: We can bail out journalism, using tax dollars and granting licenses in ways that encourage robust and independent reporting and commentary, or we can watch, wringing our hands, as more and more top journalists are laid off or bail out, leaving us with nothing in our newspapers but ads, entertainment features and crossword puzzles."
In her final LA Times column April 9, Brooks wrote, "Years of foolish policies have left us with a choice: We can bail out journalism, using tax dollars and granting licenses in ways that encourage robust and independent reporting and commentary, or we can watch, wringing our hands, as more and more top journalists are laid off or bail out, leaving us with nothing in our newspapers but ads, entertainment features and crossword puzzles."
"I can't imagine anything more dangerous than a society in which the news industry has more or less collapsed," she wrote.
However industry analysts are critical of her proposal, saying it would end independent journalism, making news sources a mouthpiece of the state, Fox News pointed out.
"The day that the government gets involved in the news media you see the end of the democratic process, because an independent news media is absolutely essential to the success of a democracy," L. Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group, told Fox News.
Bozell labeled the licensing of journalism as "intellectual prostitution," and a violation of independent journalistic principles in the United States.
However, media professionals agree Brooks' idea is unlikely to be considered by the government. "I'm doubtful that one person taking a secondary job in the Pentagon is going to guide the policy on (bailouts)," said John Nichols, a political blogger.
Poynter Online's Biz Blog provides a list of reactions to a possible non-profit media model in the United States, as well as help from the government.
However industry analysts are critical of her proposal, saying it would end independent journalism, making news sources a mouthpiece of the state, Fox News pointed out.
"The day that the government gets involved in the news media you see the end of the democratic process, because an independent news media is absolutely essential to the success of a democracy," L. Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group, told Fox News.
Bozell labeled the licensing of journalism as "intellectual prostitution," and a violation of independent journalistic principles in the United States.
However, media professionals agree Brooks' idea is unlikely to be considered by the government. "I'm doubtful that one person taking a secondary job in the Pentagon is going to guide the policy on (bailouts)," said John Nichols, a political blogger.
Poynter Online's Biz Blog provides a list of reactions to a possible non-profit media model in the United States, as well as help from the government.
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