The Senate now Wants to Save Newspapers

On Reuters, there is this story about a bill that has been introduced in the Senate to save the newspapers. It does not have any sponsors yet. The bill proposes that the newspapers would act as non-profit organizations and be tax exempt.

After attempting to save the auto industry, banks, and insurance companies, the government is now going to try to save the newspapers. Well, they didn't save any of them, so why would they try this. The government cannot help itself at this point. It is drunk with power.

Here is a concept. LET THEM FAIL!

This is Capitalism at work. Newspapers are failing, because no one reads them. Since no one reads them, no advertises in them. They are obsolete. Cable news, talk radio, Internet, and others industries and technologies have replaced them. The sun has set on the newspaper. Please, let them fade away.

On top on that, their product stinks. They are not producing something anyone wants to buy. The news is usually a day or two old. It is wrong, contrived, made up, or biased. Again, no one wants to read Liberal tripe every day, not even Liberals.

The government should not try to help an industry that is obsolete and let this dead wood go. That is what Capitalism does. It lets industries that are slowing down the economy to die off.

For example, look at what digital cameras did to Kodak. Kodak did not get a bailout. They changed their company’s focus. Look at what CDs did to cassettes. Look at what cassettes did to 8-tracks. Look at what DVDs did to VCRs. Look at what VCR did to BETA. The list goes on and on. These companies did not get bailouts. They changed or disappeared because the business environment changed.

So, let newspapers fail. They can go digital or find another niche in our society. They need to change and stop hanging onto past ideas that no longer work. Hey, that sounds familiar. Isn’t that what Liberals do?

Here is the story:

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.