EDITORIAL: FTC floats Drudge tax

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Washington Times:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking ways to "reinvent" journalism, and that's a cause for concern. According to a May 24 draft proposal, the agency thinks government should be at the center of a media overhaul. The bureaucracy sees it as a problem that the Internet has introduced a wealth of information options to consumers, forcing media companies to adapt and experiment to meet changing market needs. FTC's policy staff fears this new reality.

"There are reasons for concern that experimentation may not produce a robust and sustainable business model for commercial journalism," the report states. With no faith that the market will work things out for the better, government thinks it must come to the rescue.

The ideas being batted around to save the industry share a common theme: They are designed to empower bureaucrats, not consumers. For instance, one proposal would, "Allow news organizations to agree jointly on a mechanism to require news aggregators and others to pay for the use of online content, perhaps through the use of copyright licenses."

In other words, government policy would encourage a tax on websites like the Drudge Report, a must-read source for the news links of the day, so that the agency can redistribute the funds collected to various newspapers. Such a tax would hit other news aggregators, such as Digg, Fark and Reddit, which not only gather links, but provide a forum for a lively and entertaining discussion of the issues raised by the stories. Fostering a robust public-policy debate, not saving a particular business model, should be the goal of journalism in the first place.

The report also discusses the possibility of offering tax exemptions to news organizations, establishing an AmeriCorps for reporters and creating a national fund for local news organizations. The money for those benefits would come from a suite of new taxes. A 5 percent tax on consumer electronic devices such as iPads, Kindles and laptops that let consumers read the news could be used to encourage people to keep reading the dead-tree version of the news. Other taxes might be levied on the radio and television spectrum, advertising and cell phones.

The conflict of interest in having the government pay or contribute to a newsman's salary could not be more obvious. Reporters and columnists would have little incentive to offer critical analyses of tax increases that might mean a boost in the pocketbook. Once Congress has the power to fund the news, it can at any time attach "strings" designed to promote certain viewpoints - in the name of fairness, of course. Each year at budget time, the Fourth Estate would scramble to be worthy in the eyes of Capitol Hill for increased support. It is hardly a surprise that the heavily subsidized National Public Radio frequently presents issues in a way favorable to Washington's tax-and-spend agenda.

Self-respecting journalists must reject this tempting government bribe as the FTC brings its proposals to a round-table discussion scheduled for June 15. When it comes to the media, consumers lose most when government suppresses innovation in the name of "saving" old business models.
________

I would imagine that if this boneheaded idea comes to pass that the FTC can expect massive laswuits from said services. This isn't about "Saving" old media as much as it is about the administration trying to save its biggest constituency.

[SrWoodchuck]

WVR!

 

Once again Socialism over everything! Let the papers fail....or survive on their own merit. It's why we don't have jungle drums, signal fires or town criers anymore.

 

Taxing to level playing fields is odious, because the taxing never ends or decreases, and government meddling in information markets moves the wrong way in keeping our freedoms, creates more bloated bureaucracy and results in government dictated release of information.

 

Unlike some liberals that are only alive because it's illegal to kill them; liberal magazines, newspapers & especially liberal talk radio need to die, because they suck....and will only live if they take money out of my pocket [eventually] to keep them functioning.

 

The free flow of information, cannot be stopped, or taxed into compliance. This isn't effing health care!

 

The rights not enumerated to Congress or the executive branch....shall belong to the states or to the people themselves.......that pesky little document again.