Why Isn't The Government Stepping In To Save Newspapers?
from the they-do-it-for-other-industries dept
While the government seems to have no trouble stepping in to forcefully prop up obsolete business models in the entertainment industry, other industries get ignored. The decline of the newspaper business has been well-chronicled. However, unlike the recording and movie industries, it looks like the newspaper industry is hoping to really fight through the challenges presented to them by the internet. With that in mind, it's fun to read famed news editor Michael Kinsley's tongue-in-cheek plan to save the newspaper industry, which seems to rely heavily on government intervention, subsidizing newspapers with falling subscriptions while making canceling your newspaper subscription unconstitutional. While (we hope) most people realize that he's joking, with the way other industries have defended their business models with help from the government, you have to wonder if someone will take it seriously and try to implement it.
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Maybe this isn't so?
From Reason Online:
See http://www.reason.com/0212/cr.mw.woe.shtml for the full article.Their most recent issue has a full article devoted to the flourishing of the newspaper industry (mostly in the form of local free weeklies). Unfortunately, this article isn't availabe online yet.
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Newspapers
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