Posted on 04/17/2009 9:54:22 AM PDT by jessduntno
Rosa Brooks: Bail out journalism Other democracies pay for accurate reporting, so why shouldn't the U.S.?
This will be my last column for the L.A. Times. After four years, I'll soon be starting a stint at the Pentagon as an advisor to the undersecretary of Defense for policy.
Some might say I have a "new job," but because I'll be escaping a dying industry -- and your tax dollars will shortly be paying my salary -- I prefer to think of it as my personal government bailout.
Like everyone else whose livelihood is linked to the newspaper industry, I've been watching, appalled, as newspapers continue their death spiral, with dwindling circulations and thousands of layoffs. Here at The Times, the editorial staff is down to almost half the size it was in 2000. Often, as I've watched talented colleagues get the ax, I've suspected that I've only lasted this long because as a freelancer -- with no benefits and minimal pay -- I'm just too cheap to be worth firing.
Still, I knew it was time to pray for a government bailout in December, when my editor explained that because the paper's parent company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, I might not get paid for my recent columns. From a legal perspective, he told me, I wasn't a columnist -- I was an "unsecured creditor" of Tribune Co.
Of course, I'm not taking a government job only because I feel lucky to parachute out before some cost-cutter eliminates every last column. At this moment in history, I can't imagine anything more rewarding than being part of the new team that's shaping U.S. policy.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
If THAT doesn't make you want to barf, you are the posessor of a VERY strong Constitution...which is more than I can say for the US if this idiot has her way...
"Other democracies pay for accurate reporting, so why shouldn't the U.S.?"
Huh? Because...our ENTIRE history is based on a FRE PRESS??? Of course, we used to believe in God, too...
*FRE PRESS is at least as important as a FREE PRESS...
“an advisor to the undersecretary of Defense for policy” just out of curiosity-what qualifies her for this position?
“Other democracies pay for accurate reporting, so why shouldn’t the U.S.?”
“an advisor to the undersecretary of Defense for policy” just out of curiosity-what qualifies her for this position?
She was “Special Counsel” to one of George Soros’ top guys?
‘We can bail out journalism, using tax dollars and granting licenses’
Applications now being accepted at the Ministry of Truth....
Yet another socialist joins the Obama team.
Ms. Brooks comments are so far off the left wing deep end I’m can’t waste bandwidth to comment. Rather, I’d really wonder why a freelance journalist is needed at the DoD? Espcially one that does NOT support our country.
Every day the fallout of this last general election piles up. Obamma is a disaster.
This will give you heartgurn;
http://rosabrooks.squarespace.com/rosa-brooks-bio/
It leaves out that Barbara Ehren(Third)reich is her Mommy Dearest...
>>an advisor to the undersecretary of Defense for policy” just out of curiosity-what qualifies her for this position?
Same as the TOTUS reader — her skin color.
This will give you heartgurn;
or, even heartBURN...one never knows...I’ve been known to gurn when I read her crap...
I say she's just rising to the level of her incompetence.
didn’t mean to copy you, just didn’t read all the comments. Must be that great minds thing
Bailout funds have strings. In fact, a puppet dangling from strings would be a great metaphor for a State-owned, State-controlled propaganda media. Why did we fight the Soviet Union so hard, only to become it?
“If the thought of government subsidization of journalism seems novel, it shouldn’t. Most other democracies provide far more direct government support for public media than the U.S. does (Canada spends 16 times as much per capita; Britain spends 60 times as much). And as Nichols and McChesney point out, our government already “doles out tens of billions of dollars in direct and indirect [media] subsidies,” including free broadcast, cable and satellite privileges. “
Well if that doesn’t convince everyone it’s a bad idea I don’t know what will. The BBC and CBC as a model for America? No thankyou, If PBS is any indication I’d rather see the newspapers die.
It’s like the Jeff Goldblum line from Jurassic Park when talking about bringing back the dinosaurs(old media).
“Hold on - - this is no species that was obliterated by deforestation or the building of a dam. Dinosaurs (old media) had their shot. Nature selected them for extinction.”
How about we get someone in Congress to propose a TAX!
A TAX on NEWSPRINT!
Whereas the production of newspapers causes trees to be cut down, hauled by polluting trucks to polluting paper mills, and hauled from paper mills to publishers and
Whereas the production of newspapers requires toxic ink and solvents and energy wasting machinery and
Whereas the distribution of newspapers requires the use of dirty internal combustion engines and
Whereas a large portion of every landfill is used for discarded newspapers,
Therefore:
Be it resolved that a Newsprint tax, of $1,000.00 per pound, be charged to EVERY newspaper with a daily subscription, within the United States!
________________________________________
We should get some Republican to propose THIS as an amendment to any “cap and trade” or “carbon tax” proposal that comes up!
Maybe we can make it like “Cap and Trade” and use the revenue generated, from this tax on dirty dinosaur newspapers, to subsidize a tax credit for home computers and digital devices?
Or, we could use the money to subsidize talk radio! Well, those guys really don’t need any help!
The problem is that many of these subsidies are currently structured in ways that have actually contributed to the decline of high-quality journalism by enabling monopolies, freezing out smaller and locally controlled media outlets and encouraging large corporations to treat the news as just another product, no different from video games or sports teams.
Sorry Rosa, sports teams and video game makers aren't constantly telling their fans and customers that they are always wrong. They strive to provide their customers with the best product possible. When their customers complain, they actually listen.
Also, they are constantly trying new things (new 3D engines, the Run-and-Shoot offense, etc.) to be better than their competition and attract more customers.
The media's collective product has been garbage for years. The product is the predictable boring garbage that comes from stagnant minds, steeped in insular little enclaves where groupthink is the only thought that is tolerated.
The 'media', thinks that they are better than all of us. That only they are capable of determining what is truth. They have been wrong for decades and with the internet, that is being proven on a daily basis. The bias is unmistakable, and has actually overtaken 'news' (whatever that is now) as the primary commodity dealt by the major networks, the wire services, and the large majority of newspapers.
The media was supposed to protect the people from the trespasses of government. Take a look at our deficits, national debt, and overbearing Federal Government and try to tell me that the media has done so. What you are suggesting is not a bailout as much as it is payment for services rendered. You and yours have been a statist media for all of my life, so long that you either do not know or care what real journalism is.
I congratulate you on your new job if for no other reason that you have made it official, wearing the uniform of the team you have been playing for all along.
Yep, a state run propaganda machine consisting of all of our major newspapers and broadcast networks is exactly what this nation needs (that was sarcasm). I just wonder how much the Feds will cough up for something that they have been getting for free all these years.
Sincerely,
BADROTOFINGER
Richland, WA
That explains a lot. I read ‘Nickel and Dimed’ and thought it a complete waste of time by a woman so out of touch with life in America that it was a parody of itself. I would love to make it into a movie with MY spin on what she actually did do and accomplish as one of us regular folk. Obviously it would be a sort of train-wreck comedy about a clueless twit. Well, the apple falling and all...JFK
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