Resources
How has relaxing media ownership laws contributed to the state of journalism in America? What could changes in tax law do to help foster a new era in beat reporting? Which public policies have contributed to journalism's decline, and which new policies could help to reverse it?
We are seeking to answer these and other vital questions.
While the debate over the future of journalism has produced a vast amount of writing and research, there's hasn't been enough study of the impact of public policy on our news. We believe that journalism is a vital public good, central to our communities and our democracy. As such, we believe it should be considered a top public policy priority.
Testimony Before the House Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy
Free Press Policy Director Ben Scott calls for a national journalism strategy to address the problems in the news industry and promote a vibrant news marketplace at a U.S. House hearing entitled "A New Age for Newspapers: Diversity of Voices, Competition and the Internet.
Saving the News: Toward a National Journalism Strategy
The first report in this series provides an in-depth analysis of ideas and proposals being debated about the future of the news business and advocates for a range of short- and long-term strategies. Saving the News calls for a far-reaching national journalism strategy built around the principles of protecting the First Amendment, producing quality news coverage, providing adversarial perspectives, promoting public accountability and prioritizing innovation.
Saving the News identifies five promising ideas that should be top priorities for policymakers:
- New Ownership Structures. Encouraging the establishment of nonprofit and low-profit news organizations through tax-exempt and low-profit limited liability company (L3C) models.
- New Incentives. Creating tax incentives and revising bankruptcy laws to encourage local, diverse, nonprofit, low-profit and employee ownership.
- Journalism Jobs Program. Funding training and retraining for novice and veteran journalists in multimedia and investigative reporting.
- R&D Fund for Journalism Innovation. Investing in innovative projects and experimenting to identify and nurture new models.
- New Public Media. Transforming public media into a world-class noncommercial news operation utilizing new technology and focused on community service.
Read Saving the News: http://www.freepress.net/files/saving_the_news.pdf
The report is included in Changing Media: Public Interest Policies for the Digital Age, a groundbreaking book by Free Press that connects Internet, journalism and public media policy.
To download a copy of the entire book, visit http://www.freepress.net/summit09/book
New Public Media: A Plan for Action
This new report presents a series of creative policies and proposes reforms to support quality news reporting in local communities and to build a world-class noncommercial media system in America. New Public Media: A Plan for Action urges the creation of a trust fund seeded with a substantial endowment to supplement annual congressional appropriations and ultimately to enable the system to be completely self-sufficient. The report details a number of ways to support such a trust, including spectrum fees, a spectrum auction, a small tax on advertising, changes to the way advertising is treated in the tax code, or a small assessment on consumer electronic devices. In addition to proposing funding reforms, the report further explores a number of other ways to strengthen public media’s role in our society, including new leadership and structure for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an expanded definition of who qualifies for funding, and new standards for community engagement and station performance.
