Will struggling for-profit papers be able to compete with government-supported papers? PBS and NPR do top-notch work, though the perceived liberal bias of NPR is one reason why conservative talk radio has flourished in the last decade.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. -- Thomas Ferarro, Reuters
Would this violate the first amendment? Could this be seen as "abridging the freedom of ... the press"? This is a BIG question - not just of the need for an independent press, but of the role of government involvement in the field of journalism in general. Hmmm...
Maybe we need the term "newsiness" to describe the content of a state-supported media entity with strings attached... it won't be the free press as we know it.
In socialist Amerika, the news reads you!