[mattduke]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')he FTC, the FCC and Congress must stop blaming the Internet and start thinking about how enlightened subsidies could revitalize the very necessary public good that is journalism.

[Tanada]

IMO subsidies will not stimulate good journalism, good journalism would eliminate the need for subsidies.

[Outcast_Searcher]

+1 Tanada. Subsidies distort things, and in aggregate are helping bankrupt the developed nations.

If you have the govt subsidising the media, then there is real danger of the media being afraid to be unbiased. Even if it managed to resist that, MANY customers would no longer TRUST the subsidised media (count me in on that score).

There is research and experimentation underway to figure out how to charge for news online. Good journalism will survive online tech -- the printed newspaper probably won't (and that is a good thing via resource waste).

[pablonite]

FTA:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')olicy-makers need to take a page from American history. The framers understood that the government must not simply assure that a free and independent press may exist; it must set policies and expend resources with an eye toward guaranteeing that an independent free press will exist. No one in the first generations of the Republic thought the market would suffice; as a result, the American independent press was built on extraordinary and massive postal and printing subsidies that lasted well into the nineteenth century, remnants of which remain with us to this day. Similar subsidies — for instance, a massive increase in funding for public and community broadcasting outlets, which have never enjoyed the advantages bestowed by regulators upon commercial broadcasters — could foster the vibrant independent journalism of the twenty-first century.

[Tyler_JC]

I know it sounds cliche, but I think technological advancements have largely eliminated the need for print media.

There will always be those who like the feel of a newspaper and very large and important cities (New York, London, DC, etc.) will always have newspapers to accommodate those people.

But why does a small city need a daily newspaper?

In my area, several small cities each have a few newspapers that report on essentially the same news.

Local newspapers focus mostly on unimportant local issues. These issues can just as easily be handled by bloggers on the internet. If a story turns out to be a big scandal, larger news agencies will pick it up.

The city of Boston needs a newspaper. It might even need several competing newspapers. But Cambridge, Quincy, Somerville, Everett and Revere don't need to have several of their own newspapers.

There is massive overcapacity in the news industry. Hopefully this recession will kill off enough of the smaller papers so that the better papers can survive.

[pablonite]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'I') know it sounds cliche, but I think technological advancements have largely eliminated the need for print media.

[Tyler_JC]

The media market is actually far more diverse than the doomsayers would have you believe.

The Top 100 USA Daily Newspapers

The top 10 best selling papers in 2009:
1. Wall Street Journal (Newscorp)
2. USA Today (Gannett)
3. New York Times (NYT Company)
4. LA Times (Tribune)
5. Washington Post (Washington Post Company)
6. NY Daily News (Mort Zuckerman)
7. NY Post (Newscorp)
8. Chicago Tribune (Tribune)
9. Houston Chronicle (Hearst)
10. Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Holdings, LLC)

Out of the top 10, there are 8 different media companies.

The top 10 best selling cars in 2009:
1. Ford F-Series: (Ford)
2. Toyota Camry: (Toyota)
3. Chevrolet Silverado: (GM)
4. Honda Accord: (Honda)
5. Toyota Corolla: (Toyota)
6. Honda Civic: (Honda)
7. Nissan Altima: (Nissan)
8. Dodge Ram: (Chrysler)
9. Ford Fusion: (Ford)
10. Honda CR-V: (Honda)

In the auto industry, the top 10 best selling cars are sold by only 6 companies.

The car industry is far more "monopolized" than the news industry and no one would call the car industry anything other than highly competitive.

The news industry is even more competitive because it's not just newspapers that must battle for eyeballs, there are also radio companies, television companies, filmmakers, mobile phones, and the internet.

The fact that profits are falling and newspapers are disappearing is evidence of the highly competitive nature of the industry. In the soft drink business, we never hear about bankruptcies. The duopoly of Pepsi and Coke provide large and steady profits.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'L')ocal newspapers focus mostly on unimportant local issues.

[pablonite]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'L')ocal newspapers focus mostly on unimportant local issues.