Massachusetts Bill Set to Subsidize Newspaper Subscriptions

[LanceyHoward]

I'm confident both can - and inevitably will - raise prices if necessary.

Disney's revenue last year exceeded $20 billion. Paramount +, the parent company of Viacom CBS, brought in more than $25 billion.

I think some micro-percentage of the money these global conglomerates throw off like sparks in a steel mill would be sufficient to subsidize hundreds of local news operations.

Sign of the times. Disney books lots of revenues from theme parks, Disney Plus and and their movie studios. CBS books a of revenue from the Paramount network and their movie studio. Amazon booked 31 billion in ad revenue last year.

I think the ABC and CBS television networks are dead men walking.

 

[goalmouth]

 

[Azrael]

Awful.

Thanks for posting.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

Jim Justice is a scumbag. That's all I've got.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

West Virginia Public Broadcasting Chief Executive Carl "Butch" Antolini ...

 

[Mr. X]

I think some micro-percentage of the money these global conglomerates throw off like sparks in a steel mill would be sufficient to subsidize hundreds of local news operations.

Would this be a government-required payment?

 

[justgladtobehere]

Of course not.

But again: PBS, NPR, the BBC. All do pretty great journalism. All already subject to Trump, et al.

And the press freedom index reference I made to Norway merely demonstrates the point again. There's a lot of public money in Norway's journalism. It ranks #1 in press freedoms.

The US ranks 42nd.

Public media tries to downplay the amount of financing it gets from the government. X amount of the costs come from listeners and business donors is a common donor drive theme.

I'm confident both can - and inevitably will - raise prices if necessary.

Disney's revenue last year exceeded $20 billion. Paramount +, the parent company of Viacom CBS, brought in more than $25 billion.

I think some micro-percentage of the money these global conglomerates throw off like sparks in a steel mill would be sufficient to subsidize hundreds of local news operations.

Uhh, Paramount+ isn't the parent company.

Right now, Hulu, Peacock, and Paramount are about controlling rights to shows the companies produced.

Why do the companies have to do anything?

 

[Azrael]

Would this be a government-required payment?

It would be much better if it weren't.

Public media tries to downplay the amount of financing it gets from the government. X amount of the costs come from listeners and business donors is a common donor drive theme.

Uhh, Paramount+ isn't the parent company.

Sorry. Paramount Global.

Which is controlled by National Amusements.

 

[Justin Biebler]

Ironically, a regular revenue stream for most smaller papers - the government - is likely to dry up:


https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2023/feb/10/nwbill-seeks-to/?news-arkansas (news-arkansas)

A bill intended to change how Arkansas counties and municipalities publish various legal notices was filed Thursday.

House Bill 1399, by Rep. Frances Cavenaugh, R-Walnut Ridge, would require local jurisdictions to publish notices -- including those related to elections, filling of vacancies and the amendment of ordinances -- on government websites.

The bill would strike language from current law that requires municipalities and counties to publish notices in local newspapers. The publication of government notices is a significant stream of revenue for many newspapers.

The Arkansas Press Association and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette oppose the bill.



Here's that Invisible Hand of Ron DeSantis:

Battles over Newspaper Legal Notices Intensify

They are usually not the most scintillating content in a newspaper: the small-print legal notices that state and federal governments are required to publish to inform constituents of what they are doing.
But from a business point of view, the notices, which cover everything from rezoning requests to sidewalk café permits, are a vital stream of revenue for U.S. newspapers at a time when other traditional advertising revenue continues to decline. Since 2005, the U.S. has lost more than 2,500 newspapers, a quarter of its total.
---------
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a critic of the media, signed the measure in May. The bill becomes effective Jan. 1, 2023. That concerns David Chavern, president and CEO of the News Media Alliance, a leading news industry trade group. "It's a bad idea to expect the government to put out notices about itself. There's a component of self-interest where the government deciding where to post is just not sound public policy," he said. "I think the people who say, 'Just let the government put stuff on their website' are missing that." Karpel expects there will be litigation over ambiguous language in the bill and said that might make government agencies reluctant to ditch newspaper notices all at once.


So the tax assist from local government is getting a broader hearing.

Oregon lawmakers ponder grants for local news

I'm raising fares for the public transit agency I run here in our county. I'm required to post a legal ad in the newspaper.
Cost $250 for 6 inches of agate on the classified page for one day. Robbery. Plus, the third-party vendor they now use for those ads, you can't just walk up and place the ad anymore, sucks ass. Took me 30 minutes of my time to place and pay for the ad when it would have taken the lady at the front desk about 5 minutes to put it in previously.
Interestingly, it was a paper where I worked for 25 years. I was sitting in the lobby posting my own ad and one of my old friend in sports walked through. We chatted, and then in came the former long time crime reporter who worked there 30 years and now works for as a mental health PR flak. Weird how things like that happen.

 

[Azrael]

I'm raising fares for the public transit agency I run here in our county. I'm required to post a legal ad in the newspaper.
Cost $250 for 6 inches of agate on the classified page for one day. Robbery. Plus, the third-party vendor they now use for those ads, you can't just walk up and place the ad anymore, sucks ass. Took me 30 minutes of my time to place and pay for the ad when it would have taken the lady at the front desk about 5 minutes to put it in previously.
Interestingly, it was a paper where I worked for 25 years. I was sitting in the lobby posting my own ad and one of my old friend in sports walked through. We chatted, and then in came the former long time crime reporter who worked there 30 years and now works for as a mental health PR flak. Weird how things like that happen.

A drowning man pulls everybody under.

 

[Azrael]

fork

fork fork fork

NPR to Cut 10% of Its Staff

 

[justgladtobehere]

fork

fork fork fork

NPR to Cut 10% of Its Staff

NPR is incredibly bloated.