"Aiding tomorrow's journalists today" by David Scharfenberg | February 2, 2009
THE DECLINE of the American newspaper has meant the departure of some of our most experienced - and recognizable - journalists.
At The Boston Globe, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Eileen McNamara took a buyout in 2007. Just down the road, longtime Providence Journal political reporter Scott MacKay walked away, too. But increasingly desperate newspapers, buffeted by declining circulation and the continued migration of advertising to the Web, are turning from buyouts to layoffs these days.
And younger, less-familiar staffers at the bottom of the seniority list are feeling the pinch. I should know. The Providence Journal laid off this 30-something reporter just a few months ago.
The cuts have short-term implications, of course. School committee meetings will go uncovered, State House scandals unreported. But they also threaten the long-term health of journalism: With little hope for a resurgence, the generation that might reinvent a dying craft is simply leaving the news business behind. But there are ways to keep young journalists employed and, more importantly, to preserve the sort of journalism that keeps our democracy afloat.
Some have suggested changes in tax law that would make it easier for philanthropies to buy major news outlets, others favor a National Endowment for Journalism that newspapers could tap to pay for the investigative and international reporting now getting short-shrift.
The Jews already control the MSM.
But we need something bigger. Congress, intent on jump-starting the economy, should set aside $100 million - well under 1 percent of the stimulus approved by the House of Representatives and pending in the Senate - for a national journalism fund.
Yeah, I heard about that.
The cash would seed low-cost, Internet-based news operations in cities large and small - combining vigorous, professional reporting with blogging, video posts, citizen journalism, and aggregation of stories from other sources....
We already have them; they are called BLOGS!!!!
So am I gonna get a chunk of this bailout?
A bailout for journalists.... with newspapers leaving more and more uncovered, we need something to fill in the gaps. And with serious journalism in serious jeopardy, we need a lifeline for a new generation of journalists who would like nothing more than to keep a vital tradition alive.
--more--"
We are RIGHT HERE!
Related: I AM BLOGGER, HEAR ME ROAR!
And on the same page:
.... Debate will center on how aggressively to tackle climate change through measures such as a nationwide cap and trade program or a nationwide tax on emissions of carbon dioxide....
I'm not even going to dignify the fart-misting alarmist's lies with a reply this time, 'kay?
"Gore said the single most important policy change would be placing a carbon tax on burning oil and coal."
Bud Ris is president and chief executive officer of the New England Aquarium, which is co-sponsoring a Climate Change Symposium Feb. 5.
