CT Blue

I was asked to plug this upcoming forum, which I’m more than happy to do. The press release follows

Public Forum: “Democracy vs. the Propaganda State:
Why We Must Support Independent Media and Build
a Real Alternative to Corporate Power”

John Nichols, The Nation magazine Washington correspondent and co-author

of the new book, “The Death and Life of American Journalism:
The Media Revolution that will Begin the World Again”
will discuss the crisis in U.S. media at a June 19th public forum in New
Haven, CT

The Nation magazine’s Washington correspondent, John Nichols, is coming to
New Haven, CT’s Center Church on the Green’s Parish House on Saturday,
June 19th, where he’ll discuss his new book, “The Death and Life of
American Journalism: The Media Revolution that will Begin the World
Again,” co-authored with Robert McChesney, which examines the crisis in
U.S. journalism and proposes a rescue plan that looks back to our Founding
Fathers to save the nation’s endangered daily newspapers, investigative
reporting and democracy.

In this public forum titled, “Democracy vs. the Propaganda State: Why We
Must Support Independent Media and Build a Real Alternative to Corporate
Power,” Nichols will argue that journalism should be seen as a public
good, much like education and defense spending. He believes the federal
government should intervene to assist the ailing newspaper industry —
plagued by closings and layoffs — as a free press and an informed
electorate are among the most important elements in a well-functioning
democracy. Democratic nations economically equivalent to ours, such as
Canada, Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany,
Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden etc. spend between $8 billion to $45
billion on public media and other subsidies. The U.S. government spends
only $400 million.

The forum, sponsored by locally produced Between The Lines Radio
Newsmagazine, will be held from 2 -4 p.m. Saturday, June 19th at the
Center Church on the Green Parish House (Pratt Hall), 311 Temple St., New
Haven, CT. John Nichol’s talk will be preceded by a press conference
between 1 and 1:45 p.m. at the Parish House. A Q&A session with the
audience will follow Nichols’ talk along with a booksigning and reception
with light refreshments.

John Nichols comes to this Connecticut event after serving as the keynote
speaker at The International Federation of Journalists 2010 World
Congress, May 25-28, 2010, in Cadiz, Spain where they launched the IFJ
report on the future of journalism.

John Nichols and Robert McChesney are co-founders of the nation’s largest
media reform organization, Free Press www.freepress.net. Free Press works
to promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media,
quality journalism, and universal access to communications.

Net proceeds from this public forum will benefit Squeaky Wheel
Productions, nonprofit distributor of Between The Lines Radio
Newsmagazine, broadcast on 50 radio stations in the U.S. including WPKN
89.5 FM in Bridgeport and WESU 88.1 FM in Middletown. Suggested donation
is $15, $5 for students. Seating is limited, advance reservations
recommended. For tickets or more information call 1-(203) 268-8446 or
visit www.squeakywheel.net or www.btlonline.org. Media sponsors of this
event are WPKN Radio 89.5 FM, The New Haven Advocate and Fairfield
Weekly.

This is quite timely. This morning’s Times carried a story about the FTC, which is itself looking in to the issue, and trying to come up with ways to save American newspapers. Among other things, they are looking at whether it would be advisable to change the antitrust laws as a means toward this salutary end.

For what it’s worth, I’ll once again pass along my thoughts.

Start from the proposition that the future is on the internet. My son, who writes for a newspaper, does not get a paper newspaper, and that is true of most younger people these days. We get three, but I get most of my news on my Ipad.

Like most people, I’m happy to pay for content, so long as it is convenient and reasonably priced. When I am surfing the net and I click on a link, I don’t want to be met by a barrier and a toll if I want to read an article on a newspaper site to which I might otherwise rarely go. I propose treating content providers like TV channels in a cable system. For one monthly fee I can visit any channel I like. If I want premium channels, I pay a little more. You could do the same with newspapers, magazines and other periodicals on the internet. It wouldn’t take rocket science to figure out a reasonable way to divvy up the money. My suggestion would be that a disproportionate share of a subscriber’s payment should go to local media. In my case, the New London Day might get a fairly large cut of my subscription fee. The rest could be allocated by hits, or in some other fashion that makes sense from the industry perspective. It would be important to make sure the system allowed for new entrants. The fee would simply be added on to the regular monthly internet bill. If you didn’t want access to news on the internet, you wouldn’t have to pay it, but you’d be kissing the New York Times or any other participating paper good-bye.

At the moment, newspaper sites are either free, or subscription based, like the Wall Street Journal. The subscription covers a single publication. That’s a bit like providing cable television, then making you pay through the nose for each channel you might want to have the privilege to watch. The one fee for universal access, or tiered fees, makes a lot more sense.