U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers | Politics | Reuters

U.S. bill seeks to rescue faltering newspapers Politics Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive,
a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing
newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax
breaks.
"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or
corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that
are
struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.
A Cardin
spokesman
said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked
plenty of
interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and
many journalist
layoffs.
Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would
allow newspapers to
operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the
U.S. tax code, giving
them a similar status to public broadcasting
companies.
Under this
arrangement, newspapers would still be free to
report on all issues, including
political campaigns. But they would be
prohibited from making political
endorsements.
Advertising and
subscription revenue would be tax exempt, and
contributions to support news
coverage or operations could be tax
deductible.

This doesn't seem like a good idea. Here is yet another example of the government sticking their noses where they don't belong.

There are other ways of getting news information besides newspapers. And the free market is the best way to decide which will survive and which won't.