He says he doesn't know?

John Kerry held a hearing on the possibility of bailouts for the newspaper industry.

'Newspapers are in bad shape — really bad shape.

So with everyone else getting a bailout in today’s bad economy, Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.) held a hearing yesterday on how government can save the newspaper industry. “Is there any government role at all?” Kerry asked. “I don’t know the answer to that.”'

The pubic relations arm of the Democratic party is on the verge of extinction and one of the Democrats in control of government doesn't know if government should save it?  Standing face to face with the opportunity to dictate the news from Washington, and John Kerry says he doesn't know if there's a role for government?  Kerry called on his fellow Democrat Ben Cardin, senator from Maryland.  Cardin has a bill he's proposed.

'“My legislation uses the 501(c)3 model, similar to what a church would use or what an educational institution would use,” said Cardin. “What it doesn’t do, and what I do not support, is government interference in the free press.”

But tax-free status comes with a price under Cardin’s bill. For one thing, it means an end to the editorial board as we know it. Not only would newspapers in this new non-profit category be forbidden from endorsing or urging votes against political candidates, they would be forbidden to advocate for or against specific legislation. Just as churches have received threats against their non-profit status during recent elections, so could newsrooms be threatened — challenged as to their nonpartisanship, or even as to whether, as the Cardin bill demands, “the distribution of such newspaper is necessary or valuable in achieving an educational purpose.”

The bill has other strings as well, dictating certain aspects of a publication’s day-to-day operations. In order to keep its non-profit status, a newspaper would have to carry “local, national, and international news stories of interest to the general public.” Your average charming neighborhood or community newspaper, lacking any national or international focus, might not qualify.

A non-profit newspaper’s advertising revenues would only count as tax-free if “the space allotted to all such advertisements in such newspaper does not exceed the space allotted to fulfilling the educational purpose of such qualified newspaper corporation.”'

Education.  That's the ticket.  The problem with newspapers is that educating us unwashed in virtues of liberal political ideology hasn't sold well.  Of the top 25 newspapers in the country, only The Wall Street Journal, hardly a bastion of liberalism, had a real circulation gain.  The inevitable solution for the Democrats is to subsidize newspapers so they can continue promoting their left wing message.  I mean, why so coy John?  You really do know the answer.

Comments

[CaptDMO]

I try..I REALLY try, to see the other side of the coin. But I can't justify the expense of buyiing the same one-note compositions
that can only approach the eighth grade level of comprehension.

I know for a FACT that, despite repeated dire warnings that my subscription is IN DANGER of EXPIRING, the entire Newsweek advertisers demographic will drop by at least ONE. I wonder what THAT bit of a recent survey data indicates represents in ACTUAL numbers of lapsed, (and heavily discounted from news stand price) subscriptions to Newsweek, and it's inbred corporate cousins.

I'll continue to scan the NYT on-line "news"synopsis, and humor/editorial blurb, as long as I only have to invest my time, and lend my RAM.

[BPT]

I bet if the papers didn’t support Democrats over Republicans they’d be no pro-bailout arguments.