It’s official – U.S. Congress bailing out buggy whip makers Plans on making news media government propaganda tools

You thought you were living in a capitalistic society where you had a free press and it was survival of the fittest in the business world. You may want to ask what you call a country that owns the banks, auto makers and is taking over the media? Nikita Kruschev was correct – we will bury you!

Now the government is talking about “helping” newspapers. Is that the same way they “helped” GM, firing Rick Wagoner and dictating policy? There's never been a free press in any communist country.

See Sunday's coverage of UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day - how fast things change! Just like Idi Amin coming to power in Uganda.(one day, Jan. 25, 1971); or Augusto Pinochet in Chile (9/11, 1973, four hours).

“Kerry: Newspapers look like an endangered species”

By ANDREW MIGA, Associated Press Writer Andrew Miga, Associated Press Writer – Wed May 6, 12:12 pm ET

“WASHINGTON – Layoffs, closings and cutbacks have turned the nation's newspapers into an endangered species as readers and advertisers rush to Web sites and blogs, a top lawmaker said Wednesday.

“Hours before a Senate hearing on struggling newspapers, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said steps must be taken so the news media can stay diverse and independent.

"As a means of conveying news in a timely way, paper and ink have become obsolete, eclipsed by the power, (key word here) efficiency and technological elegance of the Internet," Kerry said in prepared remarks. "But just looking at the erosion of newspapers is not the full picture; it's just one casualty of a completely shifting and churning information landscape."

“Kerry, chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, said newspapers (buggy whips) resemble an endangered species. The panel was scheduled to hear from Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who has proposed allowing newspapers to choose tax-exempt status and operate as nonprofits (as government propaganda organs) similar to public broadcasting stations.

“Papers would no longer be able to make political endorsements (goodbye free press), but could report on all issues including political campaigns. Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax-exempt, and contributions to support coverage could be tax deductible under Cardin's plan.

“Cardin has said his bill is aimed at preserving local papers, not large newspaper conglomerates.

“Kerry said he was concerned that traditional journalistic standards on fairness and accuracy could suffer as newspapers falter. (evidently Kerry never read a paper in the 1970s or 1980s when the U.S. HAD a free press)

"Will the emerging news media be more fragmented by interests and political partisanship?"(read government propaganda organ) Kerry asked. "There also is the important question of whether online journalism will sustain the values of professional journalism, the way the newspaper industry has." (either he hasn’t read a paper in the 21st Century or he means blogs like this that refuse to follow the U.S. government party line)

“The Boston Globe in Kerry's home state is the latest major paper facing the threat of closure unless it can cut costs. The Globe and its largest employees union reached a tentative deal early Wednesday on concessions that union officials hope will keep the 137-year-old newspaper publishing.

“Already this year, E.W. Scripps Co. closed the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, and Hearst Corp. stopped printing the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, making it online only. The Christian Science Monitor stopped daily publication in favor of a weekly print edition with online news. Other major newspaper companies, including the owner of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, have filed for bankruptcy protection."