Posted: 9/20/2009 1:59:41 PM EDT
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OBAMA OPEN TO NEWSPAPER BAILOUT BILL...
By Michael O'Brien - 09/20/09 04:24 PM ET The president said he is "happy to look at" bills before Congress that would give struggling news organizations tax breaks if they were to restructure as nonprofit businesses. "I haven't seen detailed proposals yet, but I'll be happy to look at them," Obama told the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade in an interview. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced S. 673, the so-called "Newspaper Revitalization Act," that would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations. That bill has so far attracted one cosponsor, Cardin's Maryland colleague Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D). White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had played down the possibility of government assistance for news organizations, which have been hit by an economic downturn and dwindling ad revenue. In early May, Gibbs said that while he hadn't asked the president specifically about bailout options for newspapers, "I don't know what, in all honesty, government can do about it." Obama said that good journalism is "critical to the health of our democracy," but expressed concern toward growing tends in reporting –– especially on political blogs, from which a groundswell of support for his campaign emerged during the presidential election. "I am concerned that if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, that what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding," he said. When will it stop? 
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It won't, cause it isn't his money, it's yours. |
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I can remember my 8th grade civics teacher explaining the concept of communism to the class. He said "Instead of Ford or Chevrolet, you would have 'US Car'." The idea that a government would run every aspect of life seemed so alien that I never gave it a lot of thought. I also never thought I'd see it here.
Damn. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted:
OBAMA OPEN TO NEWSPAPER BAILOUT BILL...
By Michael O'Brien - 09/20/09 04:24 PM ET The president said he is "happy to look at" bills before Congress that would give struggling news organizations tax breaks if they were to restructure as nonprofit businesses. "I haven't seen detailed proposals yet, but I'll be happy to look at them," Obama told the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade in an interview. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced S. 673, the so-called "Newspaper Revitalization Act," that would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations. That bill has so far attracted one cosponsor, Cardin's Maryland colleague Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D). White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had played down the possibility of government assistance for news organizations, which have been hit by an economic downturn and dwindling ad revenue. In early May, Gibbs said that while he hadn't asked the president specifically about bailout options for newspapers, "I don't know what, in all honesty, government can do about it." Obama said that good journalism is "critical to the health of our democracy," but expressed concern toward growing tends in reporting –– especially on political blogs, from which a groundswell of support for his campaign emerged during the presidential election. "I am concerned that if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, that what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding," he said. When will it stop?
HA! since when does the news get the story right anyhow? |
| I think this is actually a good thing. Without a few major corporations controlling the news according to the profit motive, we would have a news media that wasn't beholden to the almighty dollar, competition for ratings and popular tastes. We'd see more hard news and investigative journalism instead of Baby Ramsey, Michael Jackson and Natalee Holloway type stories dominating the media for months at a time. |
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't non-profits have to remain politically neutral? This would prevent anyone from speaking out against the gov't. I'm sure this would be a great idea. If they thought we're pissed about healthcare, go ahead and bail out the NYT. This. This is the real goal. |
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Quoted: OBAMA OPEN TO NEWSPAPER BAILOUT BILL... By Michael O'Brien - 09/20/09 04:24 PM ET The president said he is "happy to look at" bills before Congress that would give struggling news organizations tax breaks if they were to restructure as nonprofit businesses. "I haven't seen detailed proposals yet, but I'll be happy to look at them," Obama told the editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Toledo Blade in an interview. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced S. 673, the so-called "Newspaper Revitalization Act," that would give outlets tax deals if they were to restructure as 501(c)(3) corporations. That bill has so far attracted one cosponsor, Cardin's Maryland colleague Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D). White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had played down the possibility of government assistance for news organizations, which have been hit by an economic downturn and dwindling ad revenue. In early May, Gibbs said that while he hadn't asked the president specifically about bailout options for newspapers, "I don't know what, in all honesty, government can do about it." Obama said that good journalism is "critical to the health of our democracy," but expressed concern toward growing tends in reporting –– especially on political blogs, from which a groundswell of support for his campaign emerged during the presidential election. "I am concerned that if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, that what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding," he said. When will it stop? Yeah, that never happens in mainstream news. |
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I think this is actually a good thing. Without a few major corporations controlling the news according to the profit motive, we would have a news media that wasn't beholden to the almighty dollar and popular tastes. We'd see more hard news and investigative journalism instead of Baby Ramsey, Michael Jackson and Natalee Holloway type stories dominating the media for months at a time. OTOH, we could have have print versions of NPR, which would basically just fellate whoever is on the left. |
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Sheer and total insanity on the face of it, and a very dangerous precedent in terms of giving government the power to stifle free speech.
Unless they are going to allow conservatives to control 50% of the editorial content of any newspaper that receives a dime of taxpayer money, this idea is an abomination. |
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so if the FREE PRESS is supposed to be the 4th arm of the Government, where does their no longer being a FREE PRESS become unConstitutional??
of course if the Press is bailed out..it will press the need to SHUT DOWN THE FREE NEWSREPORTING ON THE WEB....so you will be forced to get the drivel they proporte to be unbiased reporting...
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government owned, funded or supported newspaper* (whichever description you prefer) means the following: 1- When it is a national or global crisis and the newspaper cannot secure advertising revenue, government (since it is ultimately the owner, funder, or supporter) intervenes. Suddenly all government advertising spend pours into the newspaper – since we are in the 21st century and funding always takes course in the most subtle ways. That still sounds positive, right? Afterall, governments around the world have stepped in to support failing businesses, during the current economic crisis. However, fancy this. A ministry is contributing largely to the scarce advertising income remaining for a newspaper. Then the ministry has done something wrong and as an enthusiastic journalist you would want to write about it. Well, you can’t, because you will upset the ministry and the ministry will stop paying the bills, and the newspaper will stop paying your salary. 2- When things are going wrong and a government that understands that it is all about keeping a positive image, without which it cannot attract FDI’s, a government owned or funded or supported newspaper is the best tool to promote the positive. Imagine some scenario, where the economy is facing “challenges”. Then some report by some financial institution (it doesn’t matter which one) says we have reached the bottom of it, as a government owned (etc) newspaper your front page headline is no less than “Recovery!” with bold red letters spread on half a page space. You can also choose to spice it up even more, but that is where your creativity comes in. |
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Quoted: Quoted: This is gonna create one hell of a TEA revolt. Just watch, 9/12 will be nothing compared to what's coming. I AM going to this one...think we can do 10mil out in front of The Annointed One's Palace this time? Me too. I think we can all take the same tour I took when I was a kid on a class trip. |
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I think this is actually a good thing. Without a few major corporations controlling the news according to the profit motive, we would have a news media that wasn't beholden to the almighty dollar, competition for ratings and popular tastes. We'd see more hard news and investigative journalism instead of Baby Ramsey, Michael Jackson and Natalee Holloway type stories dominating the media for months at a time. 
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I think this is actually a good thing. Without a few major corporations controlling the news according to the profit motive, we would have a news media that wasn't beholden to the almighty dollar, competition for ratings and popular tastes. We'd see more hard news and investigative journalism instead of Baby Ramsey, Michael Jackson and Natalee Holloway type stories dominating the media for months at a time. http://www.memedepot.com/uploads/0/207_not_sure_if_serious.jpg Well like it or not, that would happen. |