Thread: U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers

U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers

Tue Mar 24, 2009 3:05pm EDT

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

"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," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.

A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempt, and contributions to support news coverage or operations could be tax deductible.

Because newspaper profits have been falling in recent years, "no substantial loss of federal revenue" was expected under the legislation, Cardin's office said in a statement.

Cardin's office said his bill was aimed at preserving local and community newspapers, not conglomerates which may also own radio and TV stations. His bill would also let a non-profit buy newspapers owned by a conglomerate.

"We are losing our newspaper industry," Cardin said. "The economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real tragedy for communities across the nation and for our democracy.

Newspaper subscriptions and advertising have shrunk dramatically in the past few years as Americans have turned more and more to the Internet or television for information.

In recent months, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Rocky Mountain News, the Baltimore Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle have ceased daily publication or announced that they may have to stop publishing.

In December the Tribune Company, which owns a number of newspapers including The Baltimore Sun, The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times filed for bankruptcy protection.

Two newspaper chains, Gannett Co Inc and Advance Publications, on Monday announced employee furloughs. It will be the second furlough this year at Gannett.

(Additional reporting by Chuck Abbott)

(Editing by David Storey)

http://www.reuters.com/article/politics ... 7F20090324

Let them sell subscriptions to illegal aliens and their advocates. They pander to them enough. I REFUSE to pay for sickening "sob" stories of people who have no rights to be here.

Let them go under!

Oh hell no! Non profits are designed to educate the public and have to adhere to very strict laws to qualify.

Newspapers do not deserve any special classification and protections from the US government.

Either they can survive like every other business or not at all. Why should newspapers get special treatment and not your local grocer or landscaper?

W

Business owners are not that stupid, realizing high unemployment rates, their own businesses suffering due to lack of consumers, they are not going to waste money advertising. Am I going to buy a skinny newspaper at 50 cents per day when I have no job or are in danger of losing mine? Actually, I get more news on the ALIPAC website and so many newspapers from all over the world are on line. Plus there is also TV, local, business, opinion, etc, which can overwhelm anyone interested.
It seems these days that so many media outlets are corporate controlled which means they have to slant every story to corporate bent. It becomes very obvious when a reporter writes "Jose, a hard-working immigrant..." and you find out at the bottom of the story that Jose is here illegally. You emphasize the crux of the story in the first three or four paragraphs, and if that little detail is not mentioned in the plight of Jose's unemployment as an illegal until the last 'graph, I would call that a serious slant since very few people read a story to the very end.
Bailout? Crap NO! This is as wonderful as bailing out Chrysler, owned by a privately held investment group.

No way my local newspaper should be allowed to be a non-profit. They are a far left illegal alien supporting political machine.

I would be happy to see my local newspaper fail and something a little more balanced come in and take its place.