Reply #2: The keywords in the first paragraph of which the authors go on to trash is [View All]

“THE basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in January 1787. “And were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter.”

The Internet is the people, and for better or worse reflects their opinions as nothing else before it ever has. I have no doubt had the Internet existed during the latter part of the 18th century Thomas Jefferson would have enthusiastically supported and respected it instead of just opining to the Information Superhighway as a cesspool of disinformation without the least hint of irony in recognizing the cesspool of disinformation, the conglomerated corporate media has become and to some degree always was.

I haven't heard an apology to Al Gore and or to the American People from the corporate media to date for the travesty of the past decade and that was just one small but critical example of the corporate media's cesspool of disinformation at work.

Furthermore, I believe this endowment idea is more an attempt at maintaining out-sized oligarch/corporate influence and power by controlling the one way mass mega phone of the corporate media. The vast majority of endowments come from people with more than ample wealth and their influence would carry the day. The wealthy would get tax benefits from underwriting their opinions. One can only imagine which issues would be determined to be of public importance and which side the endowed newspapers would come down on.


"As educational and literary organizations devoted to the “promotion of social welfare,” endowed newspapers would benefit from Section 501(c)(3) of the I.R.S. code, which provides exemption from taxes on income and allows tax deductions for people who make contributions to eligible organizations.

One constraint on an endowed institution is the prohibition in the same law against trying to “influence legislation” or “participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.” While endowed newspapers would need to refrain from endorsing candidates for public office, they would still be free to participate forcefully in the debate over issues of public importance. The loss of endorsements seems minor in the context of the opinion-heavy Web."

Thanks for the thread, musette_sf.