Government intervention-a warning

David Carr,writing in the New York Times raises concerns about the proposals for the governemnt to intervene in the newspaper industry in the States.

I’m all for journalists swarming the Hill, especially now that about half of the reporters who used to work there are gone, potentially leaving much of government to its own devices. But to leave our industry tin-cupping its way around a government it covers seems desperate and ill-advised: a cure that might be worse than the disease.

he writes adding that

Government bailouts, including special tax status, seem likely to kill independent journalism, not save it. A free press that serves at the pleasure of its government is a diminution of the intent of the founders and not, by the way, a free press.