Government financial support that has bolstered this country's commercial news business since its colonial days is in sharp decline and is likely to fall further, according to a CCLP report released January 28, 2010. Because these cutbacks are occurring at the height of the digital revolution, they will have an especially powerful impact on a weakened news industry Public Policy and Funding the News is a unique effort to begin examining how involved the government, at all levels, has been in subsidizing news throughout American history to foster an informed citizenry; and what this support has meant for publishers, journalists……
Day: January 28, 2010
New Study Traces History of Government Subsidies for the Media
The New York Times featured research by CCLP Director Geoffrey Cowan and Senior Fellow David Westphal, which found that though American newspapers have relied on government subsidies since this country's founding, that support has dropped sharply in the last four decades. "The knee-jerk reaction tends to be that government can't get involved," Cowan said. "We think it's important for people to understand that the government has been involved from the beginning, and that the subsidies were much larger in the past."……
Centuries-Old Bailout of Newspapers is Going Away, Report Warns
Editor & Publisher featured research by CCLP director Geoffrey Cowan and senior fellow David Westphal that found that though American newspapers have relied on government subsidies since this country's founding, that support has dropped sharply in the last four decades. In today's dollars, government support for newspapers and magazines has fallen to less than $2 billion from more than $4 billion in 1970. Cowan and Westphal said that government print notices, which provide significant revenue for newspapers, will most likely migrate to the Web…….