Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Should newspaper funding revert to charitable status

An interesting post from Geneva Overholser over at OJR.

It's the economic model for journalism and Geneva realises that business and mission don't necessarily go together.

This she says

throws a complex light on the collapse of the conventional economic model for journalism – which has consisted of trusting business with this mission so dear to our (and, we hope, the nation’s) hearts. That collapse feels no less catastrophic to those who are losing their jobs, nor to faithful news consumers who see shrinking newspapers and dumbed-down newscasts. And it’s still deeply worrisome when you think about who will have the power, guts and access to go up against big government and big business, so as to keep us informed about the nation and the world


and the consequences for the 4th estate role of the media.The views of Adlai Wertman, of USC’s Marshall School of Business are imperative for the argument

The profit model may be responsible for much of the problem: “There is a major difference between a mission-driven business and a business,” he said. Profit-seeking companies “quickly go from no social mission to no social responsibility.” The result has been, in Wertman’s opinion, a distorted notion of “what the public wants” when it comes to journalism, and a terribly inadequate news diet for a self-governing people.


So can the two be balanced? Well the solution is to look at the charity model of business where donors look for realised goals.
Will it work?

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