Government subsidies and philanthropy are among the solutions to saving American journalism, according to a report commissioned by the Columbia University School for Journalism.
The report, co-authored by former Washington Post editor Leonard Downie Jr. and Columbia communications professor Michael Schudson, provides a comprehensive look at the transformation now occurring in journalism. The 100-page document concludes with six recommendations to help answer this question: “What is going to take the place of what is being lost, and can the new array of news media report on our nation and our communities as well — or better than — journalism has until now?”
Here are the recommendations:
1. The IRS or Congress should allow any organization substantially devoted to reporting on public affairs to be treated as a nonprofit organization or a Low-profit Limited Liability Corporation.
2. Philanthropists, foundations, etc. should increase their support for news organizations that demonstrate commitment to public affairs and reporting that tracks public accountability.
3. Public radio and television should be “reoriented” to provide significant local reporting. Increased congressional funding is proposed.
4. Universities should provide news reporting as part of their educational missions by operating their own news organizations and employing working journalists on their faculties.
5. Create a national “Fund for Local News” created with money the Federal Communcations Commission now collects — or could collect — from telecom users, TV and radio broadcast licensees or Internet service providers. The money would be administered by Local News Fund Councils.
6. Increase access to and usefulness of public information collected by federal, state and local governments to make it easier for citizens to gather and disseminate.
The report provides a comprehensive look at the many new journalism efforts that have been spawned over the last few years thanks to weakening of the newspaper industry. It covers everything from the emergence of bloggers as credible news sources to news agencies such as ProPublica that are funded by foundations and grants.
The report assumes that newspapers will remain as a source of local reporting, but worries that cuts in reportorial staffing will leave many communities underserved by solid journalism. Downie and Schudson should also get credit for recognizing that good journalism can occur in media other than print.
Underlying the report, however, is the unstated assumption that news consumers and advertising will NOT pay for journalism. The report cites several examples of new journalistic enterprises that generate at least some of their revenue from advertising, but the general sense is that advertising alone will not support the efforts.
The paid-content model being debated so heavily throughout the newspaper industry is mentioned, but Downie and Schudson don’t seem to give it serious consideration.
I found a bit of irony in this report. It devotes pages and pages to descriptions of new efforts to re-invent journalism. In effect, it’s a description of the revolution that’s already underway. However, the recommendations seem to be an effort to preserve journalism as it currently exists. Downie and Schudson have given us a glimpse into the future of journalism while they are still rooted in the past.