Jessica Shreindl: Newspapers will do just fine

June 13, 2009 08:29 pm

— As a soon-to-be college graduate pursuing a career in journalism, my future doesn’t look promising — and it’s I and my generation that are to blame.
I rarely pick up a newspaper.
Almost everything I learn, I learn online.
The “decline” of the only industry protected in the Bill of Rights has caused some nostalgic politicians to propose a bailout of the industry. After all, it’s only fair. The banks and automakers are getting saved by Uncle Sam’s wallet, why not the defenders of democracy — newspapers?
U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., recently introduced a piece of legislation that would do just that. The Newspaper Revitalization Act “would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits, if they choose, under 501(c)(3) status for educational purposes, similar to public broadcasting,” according to Cardin’s Web site www.cardin.senate.gov.
Call me crazy for opposing government-ensured job security in my field of interest, but the idea of the federal government being a “partial owner” of the press in a free society makes me uncomfortable. Although the government wouldn’t be signing reporters’ paychecks, the illustration is somewhat accurate. Federal subsidies and tax-exempt status yield the same results as being on the government’s payroll.
And, of course, tax-exempt status would entail all-new restrictions for newspapers. Cardin’s Web site says “Under this arrangement, newspapers would not be allowed to make political endorsements, but would be allowed to freely report on all issues, including political campaigns.”
So much for the editorial section.
And even if a government buyout, err, bailout of the newspaper industry wasn’t eerie, its necessity is hard to argue. The hard truth of the free market is that industries either adapt or they die. Contrary to the “death of democracy doom-and-gloomers,” information and news sources are not on the decline. Online readership is up. With the click of a mouse readers are deciding what the news is.
The industry will be fine, it may consolidate, but it will be fine. There will always be news gatherers so long as people desire to know what’s going on in their communities and the world around them.
Newspapers arose out of people’s ingenuity and need-to-know; not by some legislature’s stroke of the pen. They will continue to do just fine without Uncle Sam.
Jessica Shreindl is Opinion Page editor for The Chart, Missouri Southern State University’s newspaper. Her blog, “Redheaded Politics” can be found on www.joplinglobe.com.