Kerry: Newspapers 'endangered species'
WASHINGTON — Layoffs, closings and cutbacks have turned the nation’s newspapers into an endangered species as readers and advertisers rush to Web sites and blogs, a top lawmaker said Wednesday.
Hours before a Senate hearing on struggling newspapers, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said steps must be taken so the news media can stay diverse and independent.
“As a means of conveying news in a timely way, paper and ink have become obsolete, eclipsed by the power, efficiency and technological elegance of the Internet,” Kerry said in prepared remarks. “But just looking at the erosion of newspapers is not the full picture; it’s just one casualty of a completely shifting and churning information landscape.”
Kerry, chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, said newspapers resemble an endangered species. The panel was scheduled to hear from Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who has proposed allowing newspapers to choose tax-exempt status and operate as nonprofits similar to public broadcasting stations.
Papers would no longer be able to make political endorsements, but could report on all issues including political campaigns. Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax-exempt, and contributions to support coverage could be tax deductible under Cardin’s plan.
Cardin has said his bill is aimed at preserving local papers, not large newspaper conglomerates.
Kerry said he was concerned that traditional journalistic standards on fairness and accuracy could suffer as newspapers falter.
“Will the emerging news media be more fragmented by interests and political partisanship?” Kerry asked. “There also is the important question of whether online journalism will sustain the values of professional journalism, the way the newspaper industry has.”
Click here for more of the story on Huffington Post.
The question is, how do you make money with an online news site?
This is an issue that concerns me deeply, but I don’t have any solutions to offer.
Whether online or ink-and-paper, journalists have to make a living. Even a non-profit has to find a way to break even, and right now the money just isn’t there. NPR & PBS are already struggling; asking a news service to compete for those donation dollars is a pipe dream. Plus, if the service accepts any money from the government, then the government starts dictating what they can & can’t report. PBS is a classic example of this – they nearly didn’t get the original Sesame Street on the air.
Yet, journalists are our watchdogs. They are vital to a free society. They protect our freedom by reporting everything from the Attorney General Gonzalez case to the local issue, reported in the Rocky, of Denver setting every yellow traffic light in the city to three seconds, even at intersections that required almost twice as long – then ticketing people who didn’t stop in time, and even setting up cameras to give more tickets. Suddenly, after the issue came out in the paper, the city was adjusting yellow light times.
Does anybody think Denver would have done anything about this without the independent oversight of the newspaper? Is there a single town or city in this country that doesn’t have a similar story? The Founding Fathers thought the Press was important enough to guarantee its’ freedom in the very first article of the Bill of Rights.
The thought of life without a free press is very scary. But I still don’t have any answers.
If the Huffington Post is a source of news, I am a monkey’s uncle.
Gene, I don’t entirely get your “Huffington Post” snark, but if you mean the Denver Post, I agree with you. The Post is a Tabloid rag, no matter what shape of paper they print on. That is why I was so distraught at the loss of the Rocky. Even when I disagreed with them, which was often, I respected their integrity.
The source of the story above, “Kerry: Newspapers ‘endangered species” is the Huffington Post. See the small blue letters at the bottom, click on it and you will go to that snarky site. Every since Walter Cronkite used to say “and that’s the way it is, January 14th 1964″ or some such date; it started many years before, you moderates should know, . . the mass media has been lying to you about many things. Now one has easy sources of really far left wing crap if the mass media is not far enough left. The Huffington Post fits that bill. It is hardly a source of news.
Are you implying the huffington post simply made up the qoutes they are reporting on? I doubt anyone understands your point. Move on.
Gene – now I get it. Since the “Kerry…” article wasn’t a news source to me, but a place to post my comments about journalism, I didn’t really pay attention to the source. My statement stands on its’ own.
As for the “Mass media lies” – a little paranoid, much? Not all misinformation is lies – more often than not, it is just someone who has already made up their mind & can’t be bothered to get their facts straight. The Post is a classic case in point. The Rocky at least tried to get their facts straight.
And to answer the original question there are plenty of ways an online news service can make money. Its just a matter of society catching up with the curve. Nearly all commerce will take place online, making revenue generating ad streams from online new sources more viable.
DC – you do have a point, and I truly believe it will all shake out eventually. I do worry, however, about local issues getting lost – hope I’m wrong.
Either way, in the meantime, the lack of functional, in-depth journalism (however temporary) is a scary time. Bear in mind, on an historic scale, “temporary” could easily be ten years. Again – hope I’m wrong.
Also, thanks for the input! Much as I enjoy yanking Gene’s chain, it’s nice to get some less ideological input.
Marymor,
I am trying to point out the source of news is important. I do not trust the Huffington Post as a source for news stories. Call me whatever. Going to wherever your mind is on the subject of journalism; did you happen to notice this story is about the gov’t of Obama trying to manage the newspapers? The story a day or so earlier, claimed they had no such intent. No gov’t bailout of newspapers. You should be paranoid. Whatever they say, they mean the opposite. Look at them saying they don’t want to control banks or car manufacturing, then they go and do just that. WAKE UP AMERICA, and my dear Marymor. They do want to control media. The “fairness doctrine” is waiting in the wings, under the name of “local content,” or such.
It probably will be ten years before society reaches the tipping point of complete online immersion. And when I say complete I mean all media all commerce all information, everything will be stored on a server rather than a shelf. If a local operation like in denver times can run lean and efficiant and slowly build its credibility over the next ten years they will be in a solid position to dominate the local news market and be extremely profitable, just don’t expect that profit to come anytime soon. I’m sure there was the same uncertainty and aniexty when the radio came around, and then tv, and now the internet. It will all work out and whatever local news source can afford to bridge the next ten or so years to profitability, and does some great local reporting will be a monster when it does. Also the internet, some would argue, actually is making everything even MORE local, which I think a lot of people would agree is a good thing. I’m still not sure why gene hates the huff post so bad, what specifically was wrong with their coverage of comments made by senators heading a subcommitee on communications (should I disclose I work for and own stock in the parent company who owns the huff post)
gene (actually spelled Gene) does not hate huff post (Huffington Post).
DC – Gene hates everything that isn’t so right-wing it’s almost fascist. Don’t take it personally. As for why I hate the Post, I can be a little more logical. When I moved to Denver in 1992, the Rocky seemed the better choice, but admittedly it was not an overly researched decision. After the JOA, I got a chance to compare the Sunday Post to the daily Rocky, and the Post came off very poorly – I just stopped reading the Sunday paper. Then, nail in the coffin, I read a book called “The Principled Politician”. It was about the governor of Colorado during WWII. There were many newspaper quotes, from both the Post and the Rocky, as well as other Colorado papers. Even back then, the Rocky tried to present balanced information. The Post, on the other hand, was even more histrionic, biased, and inaccurate than these days. Ironically, back then the Post was the “Republican” paper, and the Rocky was “Democratic” – completely opposite of the latter days. Didn’t matter. The Post has been a rag for a hundred years.
Okay, I won’t take it personally.
I guess I don’t really see the liberal bias in any major media outlet. They are all big corporations, so naturally lean right. Maybe that is the real fear of the electronic revolution, that more independant voices can influence a larger audience, and the natural conservative tilt of media will disapear.
There is a whole other world out there DC. I could present to you, extensive thoughts that counter your observations above, however I have been called enough names this week by the tolerant other side. Have a great weekend.
Gene – admittedly, I did sort of start the name-calling between you & myself by agreeing with someone who said you were a bigot. However, you have been calling me names ever since – “naive” being the kindest – and I have not once retaliated. In fact, I have gone out of my way to point out when you said something I could respect. When I told DC that you hate everything that isn’t so right-wing it’s almost fascist, it wasn’t name calling, it was an honest impression based on your statements over the past weeks.
Gene – I’m sure you could create some myopic vision that counters my point that mass media is contolled by large corporations, which to a T lean right, but I doubt it would be grounded in reality. Sure there are liberal individuals reporting for mass media, but in these corporation it is not the ground level reporter who dictates what is printed, editors decide the content, and when an editor is faced with an editorial decision that weighs reporting against business, business always wins out.
DC – G.E.
GE as in general electric as in a huge right wing corporation that controlls media content. Your right Gene thanks for agreeing with me.
The main streem press does not report the truth abotu 911 and the New Orlaens levees
R.Art/DC,?
You birds of a feather must travel together. One fly away. Other fly away. Yes, General Electric is what I was referring to. And it is on the other wing of your wing description. Every so often Bill O’Reilly hits on their situation with the media. You both could learn a lot by listening to Bill O’Reilly. You could sit real close together on your wire, and snicker at O’Reilly when you hear something new. If you weren’t too busy ruffling each others feathers, preening and clucking, O’Reilly could ruffle your feathers. Then you could fly down streem together. As opposed to your main stream. And what the hell is a New Orlaens levees? What is that abotu?
PS. If you two birds have some sort of physical disability, I apologize. If it is mental (other than liberalism), I guess I also apologize. New fly away!
“The main streem press does not report the truth abotu 911 and the New Orlaens levees”.
This from someone who can’t spell “mainstream”, much less New Orleans, and doesn’t type too well, either. (Hint: there’s a spell-check, dude).
I find it ironic (and not a little amusing) that each side is convinced that news and information is controlled and censored by the other. For those who think the liberals are in control, I have two words: O’Reilly & Limbaugh.
For those who think the conservatives are in control, two more words: Krugman & Kristof.
The Communist Party USA is alive and well – as is The John Birch Society . Both the preceding links should be live, if you want to check out either one.
Personally, I prefer George Will & Clarence Page.