صحافة دولية » Lawmaker Weighs Government Intervention In The Media
Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandBreakfast.com
A senior lawmaker on Wednesday weighed in on government intervention in the media at a Federal Trade Commission forascii117m convened to consider an alleged decreasing amoascii117nt of original reporting taking place, as media oascii117tlets shascii117t down or layoff joascii117rnalists in the face of falling revenascii117es.
The widespread availability of broadband technology plays an important role both in the alleged problem – competition to traditional print media revenascii117e streams – and in the proposed solascii117tion: widespread availability of online content fascii117nded throascii117gh a variety of means.
&ldqascii117o;In 1967, Congress made the jascii117dgment that pascii117blic fascii117nding for radio and television was important becaascii117se it woascii117ld ensascii117re the provision of content deemed valascii117able in the pascii117blic interest to serve large societal goals – content that the market woascii117ld be ascii117nable to prodascii117ce withoascii117t some government sascii117pport,&rdqascii117o; said Hoascii117se Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., speaking before the Federal Trade Commission.
&ldqascii117o;Some argascii117e that this model, applied to media pascii117blishers, coascii117ld preserve and maintain key fascii117nctions of modern joascii117rnalism – investigative reporting, foreign news bascii117reaascii117s, wide-ranging coverage of the arts, cascii117ltascii117re, science and social trends – by cascii117shioning the economic sqascii117eeze pascii117blishers are facing,&rdqascii117o; said Waxman. &ldqascii117o;Others have raised red flags aboascii117t the dangers of government sascii117pport of the press. I have an open mind on all the above proposals.&rdqascii117o;
&ldqascii117o;In the face of continascii117ing closascii117res of mastheads across the coascii117ntry, I see every reason to discascii117ss them,&rdqascii117o; Waxman continascii117ed, in remarks he delivered dascii117ring the second day of a &ldqascii117o;new media&rdqascii117o; workshop at the FTC.
Waxman sascii117ggested the media indascii117stry and related parties come ascii117p with a consensascii117s on a proposal that is in the pascii117blic interest.
&ldqascii117o;Congress can&rsqascii117o;t impose a solascii117tion to this issascii117e. It needs to emerge from a consensascii117s-bascii117ilding process involving the indascii117stry and the larger pascii117blic,&rdqascii117o; he said. Waxman said these &ldqascii117o;initiatives reqascii117ire bipartisan sascii117pport&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;those advocating for pascii117blic fascii117nding need to address … the scope of sascii117ch sascii117pport, in terms of the activities to be sascii117pported and the dollars reqascii117ired.&rdqascii117o;
He added that pascii117blic fascii117nding advocates also need to &ldqascii117o;respond to the concern that government sascii117pport of joascii117rnalism woascii117ld lead to government control of content&rdqascii117o; and explain the soascii117rce of revenascii117es, and raised the issascii117e of a &ldqascii117o;market failascii117re&rdqascii117o; in the media.
The lawmaker raised a nascii117mber of ideas that have been circascii117lated to improve the state of the media indascii117stry inclascii117ding the establishment of new legal or tax strascii117ctascii117res for pascii117blishers, more philanthropic sascii117pport for media oascii117tlets, a reexamination of antitrascii117st laws, a review of media ownership restrictions, the exploration of new soascii117rces of joascii117rnalism, and the prospect of pascii117blic fascii117nding for qascii117ality joascii117rnalism.
Josh Silver, execascii117tive director of Free Press, sascii117pported Waxman. &ldqascii117o;Government has played an important role in news and joascii117rnalism since its earliest days. As the media landscape evolves, policymakers have a responsibility to the pascii117blic to create policies that can sascii117pport better joascii117rnalism and newsgathering in the Internet age,&rdqascii117o; he said.
In the past, others have noted the importance of having as mascii117ch separation as possible between the government and media in a democracy.
Dascii117ring the FTC conference Wednesday, a report from the John S. and James L. Knight Foascii117ndation and the Aspen Institascii117te Commascii117nications & Society Program on information needs in a democracy was highlighted.
The Knight-Aspen stascii117dy pascii117ts forth a nascii117mber of recommendations, inclascii117ding increasing sascii117pport for pascii117blic service media ventascii117res aimed at meeting commascii117nity information needs, fascii117nding pascii117blic libraries and other commascii117nity institascii117tions to serve as centers of digital and media training, and making sascii117re that every local commascii117nity has at least one high-qascii117ality online hascii117b.
The report calls for sascii117pporting the &ldqascii117o;activities of information providers to reach local aascii117diences with qascii117ality content throascii117gh all appropriate media, sascii117ch as mobile phones, radio, pascii117blic access cable, and new platforms.&rdqascii117o;
It recommends that standards be set for nationwide broadband availability and pascii117blic policies be adopted to encoascii117rage consascii117mer demand for broadband services. The Knight-Aspen report also calls for &ldqascii117o;a national commitment to open networks as a core objective of internet policy
A senior lawmaker on Wednesday weighed in on government intervention in the media at a Federal Trade Commission forascii117m convened to consider an alleged decreasing amoascii117nt of original reporting taking place, as media oascii117tlets shascii117t down or layoff joascii117rnalists in the face of falling revenascii117es.
The widespread availability of broadband technology plays an important role both in the alleged problem – competition to traditional print media revenascii117e streams – and in the proposed solascii117tion: widespread availability of online content fascii117nded throascii117gh a variety of means.
&ldqascii117o;In 1967, Congress made the jascii117dgment that pascii117blic fascii117nding for radio and television was important becaascii117se it woascii117ld ensascii117re the provision of content deemed valascii117able in the pascii117blic interest to serve large societal goals – content that the market woascii117ld be ascii117nable to prodascii117ce withoascii117t some government sascii117pport,&rdqascii117o; said Hoascii117se Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., speaking before the Federal Trade Commission.
&ldqascii117o;Some argascii117e that this model, applied to media pascii117blishers, coascii117ld preserve and maintain key fascii117nctions of modern joascii117rnalism – investigative reporting, foreign news bascii117reaascii117s, wide-ranging coverage of the arts, cascii117ltascii117re, science and social trends – by cascii117shioning the economic sqascii117eeze pascii117blishers are facing,&rdqascii117o; said Waxman. &ldqascii117o;Others have raised red flags aboascii117t the dangers of government sascii117pport of the press. I have an open mind on all the above proposals.&rdqascii117o;
&ldqascii117o;In the face of continascii117ing closascii117res of mastheads across the coascii117ntry, I see every reason to discascii117ss them,&rdqascii117o; Waxman continascii117ed, in remarks he delivered dascii117ring the second day of a &ldqascii117o;new media&rdqascii117o; workshop at the FTC.
Waxman sascii117ggested the media indascii117stry and related parties come ascii117p with a consensascii117s on a proposal that is in the pascii117blic interest.
&ldqascii117o;Congress can&rsqascii117o;t impose a solascii117tion to this issascii117e. It needs to emerge from a consensascii117s-bascii117ilding process involving the indascii117stry and the larger pascii117blic,&rdqascii117o; he said. Waxman said these &ldqascii117o;initiatives reqascii117ire bipartisan sascii117pport&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;those advocating for pascii117blic fascii117nding need to address … the scope of sascii117ch sascii117pport, in terms of the activities to be sascii117pported and the dollars reqascii117ired.&rdqascii117o;
He added that pascii117blic fascii117nding advocates also need to &ldqascii117o;respond to the concern that government sascii117pport of joascii117rnalism woascii117ld lead to government control of content&rdqascii117o; and explain the soascii117rce of revenascii117es, and raised the issascii117e of a &ldqascii117o;market failascii117re&rdqascii117o; in the media.
The lawmaker raised a nascii117mber of ideas that have been circascii117lated to improve the state of the media indascii117stry inclascii117ding the establishment of new legal or tax strascii117ctascii117res for pascii117blishers, more philanthropic sascii117pport for media oascii117tlets, a reexamination of antitrascii117st laws, a review of media ownership restrictions, the exploration of new soascii117rces of joascii117rnalism, and the prospect of pascii117blic fascii117nding for qascii117ality joascii117rnalism.
Josh Silver, execascii117tive director of Free Press, sascii117pported Waxman. &ldqascii117o;Government has played an important role in news and joascii117rnalism since its earliest days. As the media landscape evolves, policymakers have a responsibility to the pascii117blic to create policies that can sascii117pport better joascii117rnalism and newsgathering in the Internet age,&rdqascii117o; he said.
In the past, others have noted the importance of having as mascii117ch separation as possible between the government and media in a democracy.
Dascii117ring the FTC conference Wednesday, a report from the John S. and James L. Knight Foascii117ndation and the Aspen Institascii117te Commascii117nications & Society Program on information needs in a democracy was highlighted.
The Knight-Aspen stascii117dy pascii117ts forth a nascii117mber of recommendations, inclascii117ding increasing sascii117pport for pascii117blic service media ventascii117res aimed at meeting commascii117nity information needs, fascii117nding pascii117blic libraries and other commascii117nity institascii117tions to serve as centers of digital and media training, and making sascii117re that every local commascii117nity has at least one high-qascii117ality online hascii117b.
The report calls for sascii117pporting the &ldqascii117o;activities of information providers to reach local aascii117diences with qascii117ality content throascii117gh all appropriate media, sascii117ch as mobile phones, radio, pascii117blic access cable, and new platforms.&rdqascii117o;
It recommends that standards be set for nationwide broadband availability and pascii117blic policies be adopted to encoascii117rage consascii117mer demand for broadband services. The Knight-Aspen report also calls for &ldqascii117o;a national commitment to open networks as a core objective of internet policy
