Washington Post Calls For Federal Funding Of Newspapers?

from the gee,-biased-much? dept

Fri, Oct 30th 2009 2:42pm — Mike Masnick

Just days after we wrote about a study that showed more government funding of the press leads to less reporting on government corruption, along comes the Washington Post with an editorial saying it's time to have the federal government fund more journalism. I wonder how Watergate would have turned out if the Washington Post was relying on Nixon for cash... The editorial piece claims that no one is "filling the gap" left by fewer newspaper reporters, but presents no evidence whatsoever to support that. The market is changing, absolutely, but we're seeing all sorts of new, unique and innovative ways of covering the news -- often allowing much greater coverage than in the past. Getting the government involved may sound good to the Washington Post, but it hardly seems like the right formula for an independent press.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: federal funding, journalism, newspapers

8 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

cc, 30 Oct 2009 @ 3:59pm

Their business has become redundant (because people have moved on to something new and better), so they push to become a tax.

Just something the news and music industries seem to have in common.

And there really isn't any point saving these industries, is there? It's absolutely in the consumers' benefit for them to go away.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mike, 30 Oct 2009 @ 4:11pm

This is b/s
It's not the governments job to prop up every dead beat industry in this country. In fact it'd be more helpful if the damn things failed. There's way to much fat on the American economy due to everyone sucking off the big tit of government.

If some people in Washington just had the balls to put away the tit for a good decade or two these struggling businesses would fail. Then, out of that failure would come other businesses that succeed, because they can do things better, faster, cheaper, etc. It's the cycle of business and it's ideas like the ones conceived by the Post that land us in the kind of shit storm we're in now.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pwdrskir (profile), 30 Oct 2009 @ 4:22pm

Oh Canada
The overall public interest is at stake if those that hold the purse strings get to decide how to fund the 4th estate. Let’s just cut out the middle man and let the lobbyists run the paper.

How is a free democracy supposed to survive on this nonsense, the Washington Post should move to Canada if they have that attitude.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 30 Oct 2009 @ 4:24pm

Too late
The WaPo is already a press-release service, so public funding isn't going to hurt the quality of their reporting any.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Monkey Boy, 30 Oct 2009 @ 4:31pm

Save the town criers!
Please think of the town criers! The evil newspaper industry and improving education system are going to put them out of business. Those poor dears, how will they ever be able to take care of their family when they've all become unemployed? I know, lets create a town crier tax! That way they won't ever have to worry about losing their income again! What, you didn't seriously expect them to simply find a new source of income, did you? Shame on you!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Daemon_ZOGG (profile), 30 Oct 2009 @ 11:00pm

Don't You Mean The Washington COMPOST?
Media outlets MUST remain financially independent for the sole reason of credibility. Once the government begins funding media outlets, it becomes a "conflict of interest". Any reporting of government news or stories by that media source will be tainted.
Through the eyes of the reader or observer, the truth becomes whatever the government says it is. Not what it REALLY is.

While there is benefit to "small" "local community" newspapers.. The struggling giant, conglomerate, over-bloated newspaper outlets, i.e. Washington Compost, New York Grimes, etc.. need to stop pissing and moaning about how life is Soooo unfair and start adapting to change. Look what happened to 8-track & cassette tapes. We still listen to music. Just Not On Outdated Media! ;p

Change has come. It's already here. And it WILL kick you to the curb if you're unwilling to go with it. Think about that when your selling your LAST newspaper... ;)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ChrisB (profile), 2 Nov 2009 @ 7:08am

Re: Oh Canada
You mentioned Canada ...

Canada's government funded media, CBC, actually has some of the best investigative reporting. I don't think this is bad, as long as there is other media. Corporations and government both have bias and their media show it. Having media funded by both helps with balance.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pwdrskir (profile), 10 Nov 2009 @ 10:10am

Re: Re: Oh Canada
That is my point, if the WP likes a government nanny taking care of it, Canada is a perfect place for them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]