“If we're willing to use taxpayer money to build roads, pay teachers and maintain a military; if we're willing to bail out banks and insurance companies and failing automakers, we should be willing to part with some public funds to keep journalism alive too.” These words were written by Rosa Brooks, former columnist for the LA Times and now the undersecretary of Defense for policy at the Pentagon.
Brooks’ premise is that there will be no government oversight if the many newspapers across the nation, currently in a death spiral (her words), have to close their doors. Add to that in her last column Brooks stated “A decimated, demoralized and under-resourced press corps hardly questioned the Bush administration's flimsy case for war in Iraq….” Is that a confession that journalists haven’t been doing their job, so let’s bail them out? Sounds like it to me.
Before we bail out the newspapers, we need to understand why they are in this death spiral. Is it because there are more and more papers going online rather than hard copy print? Is it loss of revenue from advertising and, if so, why? Could it also be because people don’t want to subscribe to slanted news and editorials? Do any of these reasons, individually or collectively, warrant bail out from taxpayers?
We have National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Network already paid for by the taxpayers. Now we are going to be asked (Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-MD legislation) to pay for all non-successful newspapers to operate too.
Yes, a free flow of opinion is the basis of our successful democracy and must continue. Americans have promoted freedom of the press worldwide for decades. But we have already seen our government put restrictions on monies given for failing businesses. Can you imagine what would happen if the government told the newspapers they have given money what to write? Hmmmm. What will happen to our own democracy if we go there?
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