Free Press: New Policies to Save the News

Pub date May 13, 2009
SectionBruce Blog

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New report calls for national strategy to contend with the crisis in journalism

B3: I believe that the alternative and community papers that are firmly embedded in their communities, with a strong print and web presence, doing real reporting and tackling the tough issues and making solid endorsements, will survive during hard times and live to flourish. Yes, of course I mean the Guardian and many other alternative papers. But here is a proposal that I especially like that covers other media.

WASHINGTON
— Today, Free Press released Saving the News: Toward a National Journalism Strategy, a new report on how the government should respond to the current crisis in journalism. The report provides an in-depth analysis of ideas and proposals being debated around the future of the news business and advocates for a range of short- and long-term strategies.

“Traditional media have been battered by a perfect storm, as the rise of the Internet and the disappearance of traditional ad dollars collided with the economic downturn,” said Craig Aaron, senior program director of Free Press and co-author of the report. “But many of the media industry’s wounds are self-inflicted, the result of bad business decisions and failed strategy, aided by idle regulators who looked the other way. We need a new approach.”

Read Saving the News.