The FTC has been trying to come up with different ways to save the newspaper industry from itself -- and the Internet. Many of their proposals include taxing New Media to support its aging parent.
Some measures being considered are "a copyright tax on online news aggregators; sales taxes on electronics such as the Kindle and iPad used to read online media; taxes on Internet Service Providers; taxes on television and radio broadcast outlets; taxes on radio and television advertising; tax breaks and direct government subsidies to newspapers; initiation of a journalism division of AmeriCorps; instituting government grants to universities to promote investigative reporting; and providing more subsidies to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."
What do you guys think? Is everyone anti-government intervention?
Newspapers are in the sh*t, no doubt. But there are a lot that are straight printing money. I've worked in the newspaper area, and there is money to be made. There is a lot of M&A that takes place in the industry, similar to that of the radio business.
If you doubt me, check out who is the largest shareholder of The Washington Post: Warren Buffet.
It's weird how countries like Britain are obsessed with newspapers. Personally I like it. There is something nice to holding a paper in your hand and not on a computer, don't you agree?
Let them die, all it is, is a waste of paper
I literally just became a member here so stay with me if I don't have the wallstreetoasis dialect quite down yet even though I have been a reader for a bit longer than I have been a member.
Whatever your own personal preference on newspapers may be, they are really the only news source that does any real reporting or investigative journalism. If any of you guys think that Hannity, O'Reilly, Maddow, or Olbermann will step up and do any grunt work if news papers fail, you are out of your minds. I'm no fan of the government, but in this case a tax on media outlets that do not perform investigative journalism services is actually a conservative idea. It is relatively clear that newspapers won't exist in paper form 15 years from now, and other than the wall street journal, no one can figure out to make money online while actually reporting on the news. So until someone shows that they will be able to step up and take up the slack of these newspapers, the government does need to keep these guys afloat. You may not like government intervention but these papers (conservative and liberal alike) are the only things keeping the literate American public informed.
I think that there is no incentive to try and "save" newspapers. Let them live or die. No governmental intervention in the market.
Hannity and O'Reilly don't even report real news, not to speak of investigative journalism...
While I personally agree that newspapers are better to read and have better content, I say let 'em die.
If the public isn't buying enough newspapers to keep newspaper companies afloat, then let the weaker ones die and the stronger companies survive and innovate...
i stopped reading after i saw tax, tax, tax, tax, tax....
Let them live or die. If any can't keep up with modern news distribution then they should crumble. The stronger companies can then take the remaining share of customers.
Exactly- if newspapers mean a lot to people in this country then they will live and desere to live-- i happen to not be able to start my morning without the wsj in my hand, but if the mob speaks and we all have to move over to reading our news on the kindle or iphone then so be it...
It is a simple question of value. Do you value a hard copy newspaper to a soft copy internet news outlet? Personally, I say let them die. I get the same news online that I would get from a hardcopy (and immediately at that). However, there are some people that love a hard copy newspaper. They value this much more than I would, thus they should be willing to pay for this "added" value of paper. So I say let them raise the cost of a newspaper to control the niche group that still values them. Let them figure it out on their own. A group I was in recently came up with a business plan for a newspaper company to offer hardcopies at a cost. They would cost more and be delivered to your doorstep but other than those who opted for this, their news would come solely through email and online content. Basically, If you want a hardcopy newspaper, then pay more for it. If you don't want a hardcopy newspaper than don't get one. So bottom line, no one should help this industry and they should figure out a solution on their own...unless the government decides they are to big to fail.
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