Maryland Senator introduces bill to help save newspapers - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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The Maryland Democrat’s Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as ifthey choose, under 501(c)(3) status for educational similar to public broadcasting stations, he said in a Marcy 24 statement. Under this proposed arrangement, newspaperds would not be allowed to makepoliticak endorsements, but would be allowed to freely report on all issues, includiny political campaigns. Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempt and contributiona to support coverage or operations could be tax thesenator said. However, he said the measured “is targeted to preserve local newspapers serving communities and not largsnewspaper conglomerates.
” And because newspaper profits have been fallinh in recent years, no substantial loss of federap revenue is expected. “We are losing our newspaper said Cardin. “The economy has caused an immediate problem, but the business model for newspapers, basefd on circulation and advertising revenue, is and that is a real tragedy for communities across the natio n and for our Cardin added that although many newssourcez exist, the public relies largely on newspapers “for in-depth reportinv that follows important issues, records events and exposesz misdeeds.
” In fact, he most if not all sources of journalistiv information — from radio to television to the Interneyt — gathers their news from newspaper reporterxs who cover the news on a daily basis and know their Leading business executives, including billionaire investment bankere Warren Hellman, recently made an overture to , whicj owns the San Francisco Chroniclr , to help it become a The proposal would be for a nonprofity corporation “to take over the Chroniclre ,” with Hearst continuing to provide some philanthropixc support, Coblentz said. Details remainn sketchy, and it’s unclear if the proposa is being seriously consideredby Hearst.
But there’xs no doubt that the Chroniclwe and a host of othee metropolitan dailies are seeking new Citing , the Maryland senatoer noted that newspaper advertising revenue plummetef 25 percent last year, and circulation at many print publications fell as as many readers migrated to the where most (but not all) news is free. In the Cardin noted that the , , and San Francisck Chronicle , among others, have either ceaser daily publication or announced they may have to stop and thatother publications, includinb newspapers owned by the , ownera of the and , have filed for bankruptc “or have had to institute severe cutbackxs that have impacted news Cardin’s bill came just a week after House Speakerd Nancy Pelosi asked U.
S. Attorney Generapl Eric Holder to loosen antitrust restrictions to help newspapers like the Chronicle For many, the outlook is grim. The Post-Intelligence , also owned by New York-based Hearst, shuttered its print publication March 17 and convertedto online-onlg news coverage. The Rocky Mountain News closed last The is being sold to a turnaround quite possibly because of its realestater assets. Papers such as the and the are also reporteds to be inpotential jeopardy. Critics worry that the nonprofi model may notsuit newspapers, and that such an approach couldr give government more opportunities to contro the news. And Cardin admittedc as much.
“This may not be the optimall choice for some major newspapers or corporatesmedia chains, but it should be an optiohn for many newspapers that are struggling to stay