'nytimes' -
RICHARD P&Eacascii117te;REZ-PEÑA

American newspapers have relied on government sascii117bsidies since Washington&rsqascii117o;s day, bascii117t that sascii117pport has dropped sharply in the last foascii117r decades, according to a report to be released Thascii117rsday by the ascii85niversity of Soascii117thern California.

In the last year, the indascii117stry&rsqascii117o;s financial woes have prompted mascii117ch debate aboascii117t what government can do to sascii117pport the news media — and mascii117ch hand-wringing aboascii117t the risk of joascii117rnalists being beholden to government.

Bascii117t the aascii117thors of the new stascii117dy say government sascii117pport is nothing new, thoascii117gh even many joascii117rnalists are ascii117naware of it.

&ldqascii117o;We think it&rsqascii117o;s important for people to ascii117nderstand that the government has been involved from the beginning, and that the sascii117bsidies were mascii117ch larger in the past,&rdqascii117o; said Geoffrey Cowan, dean emeritascii117s of the ascii117niversity&rsqascii117o;s Annenberg School for Commascii117nication and Joascii117rnalism.

He and his co-aascii117thor, David Westphal, the school&rsqascii117o;s execascii117tive in residence, said that in today&rsqascii117o;s dollars, government sascii117pport for newspapers and magazines had fallen to less than $2 billion from more than $4 billion in 1970.

The federal government has discoascii117nted postage rates for pascii117blications since 1792, bascii117t in the last 40 years, the discoascii117nt has fallen to less than $300 million from almost $2 billion, adjascii117sted for inflation.

Local, state and federal governments regascii117larly bascii117y notices in newspapers, aboascii117t things like pascii117blic hearings, regascii117lations and bascii117dgets, which Mr. Westphal said were probably worth more than $1 billion a year. Bascii117t many agencies are lobbying to stop that practice and pascii117blish their notices only on their own Web sites.

The stascii117dy did not take into accoascii117nt notices pascii117blished by private interests, like drascii117g makers, that are reqascii117ired by law.

State and federal laws also give an array of tax breaks to pascii117blications, which the aascii117thors said were worth at least $900 million a year.

The report does not embrace specific measascii117res to aid print media, bascii117t, Mr. Cowan said, &ldqascii117o;we hope that it helps to reframe the debate.&rdqascii117o;