Minnesota's most liberal newspaper emits a few last gasps before
going under.
Minnesota's most liberal newspaper, the Star Tribune,
filed for bankruptcy a few months ago. Excuse me while I stop
writing and do the happy dance for a moment. It's not that I wish
the writers, editors, photographers, and other staff of the paper
ill will. On the contrary; I grew up reading the Strib.
Despite its flaws, the paper elicits a bit of childhood
nostalgia. More than that, I don't wish an unplanned job search
on anyone in this economy.
But soon-to-be displaced Strib employees are now
clinging to the sinking newspaper's last life preserver. Earlier
this month, a group of them launched SavetheStrib, a website designed
to help them find a new owner for their "essential community
resource too valuable to lose." In addition to their pleas for
help, they've proposed a new business model, one that Minnesotan
and Hot Air blogger Ed Morissey
said "would certainly set off screeches of class-warfare
howling in the Strib's editorial section if any other
corporation tried it."
The revamped business model is the brainchild of the Minnesota
Newspaper Guild:
The Guild is supporting federal legislation in Washington that
would include newspapers among businesses that offer a "social
benefit" to the community under current Internal Revenue
Service rules. This would pave the way for a unique hybrid
ownership model called an L3C --a low-profit limited liability
corporation -- that qualifies as a charity under IRS rules, but
is operated as a for-profit business.
Perhaps I need a more liberal worldview to read that correctly,
but I believe the Strib would like to make a profit and
then be exempt from paying taxes on it. Who knew that newspapers
were charities rather than businesses?
Clearly, the folks who thought this gem up aren't living in the
reality of a capitalist society. The newspaper is dying in part
because of the difficult economic climate. If they offered a
product that the public wanted, at a price the public is willing
to pay, they would be able to justify the salaries they pay their
staff and the concessions they have given to the unions.
But the other problem is that the Star Tribune wants to
promote a liberal agenda, the opinions and desires of its
readership be damned. Ironically, this mentality is apparent even
on the SavetheStrib website, which helpfully informs visitors:
"While we appreciate comments from all vantage points, this site
is not a forum for political viewpoints. If you have a problem
with the newspaper's content we suggest you write a letter to the
editor or post a comment to the specific article on
startribune.com. We understand that not everyone agrees with what
we produce. However, we are looking for constructive comments.
Thank you."
Rather than change their ways or face the music, the powers
behind this struggling newspaper would rather, in true liberal
form, beg for money or an exception to the laws of corporate
taxation. Ones they've long been in favor of imposing on other
people's businesses.
The Strib is using up its last lifeline. But it's really
been drowning for a while.
"The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper."
"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man
who reads nothing but newspapers."
Thomas Jefferson
Steve Clemens| 4.17.09 @ 7:58AM
I will really miss the strib. What will I use to start fires in
the fireplace?
Griff| 4.17.09 @ 8:42AM
"While we appreciate comments from all vantage points, this site
is not a forum for political viewpoints. If you have a problem
with the newspaper's content we suggest you write a letter to the
editor..."
I've written numerous letters to the editor of the Red Star, but
none have been published to date. Expressing a conservative
argument that liberals are unable to refute apparently doesn't
make the editorial pages. Good riddance!
Mattled| 4.17.09 @ 8:53AM
One by one---they need to fail (much like Obambi's Marxist Utopia
dreams).
Let's start with NYT, then NBC. Start calling advertisers on NBC.
Curly Smith| 4.17.09 @ 9:07AM
There's a continuing typo in the article that needs to be fixed.
You omitted the "t" in "The Stinking Strib". Forget about them
being a charity, how in the world did they, and the NYT, escape
being shut down by the EPA and then classified as SuperFund
Sites? Was somebody in the EPA paid to overlook the mass
emissions of bio-waste?
Robert Rosencrans| 4.17.09 @ 9:31AM
If you force someone to eat chocolate cake every day, they will
quickly tire of it.
The journalists in this country have been outed as social
liberals, who vent their political beliefs through their half
witted articles.
The public simply wants the facts and those are hard to find
these days.
The liberal papers who are collapsing are proof positive the tea
parties needed no central planning, and that you can't sell the
public garbage and tell them it's cake.
The Only Republican in Seattle| 4.17.09 @ 10:55AM
It has admittedly been years ago, in another city, but I used to
have a large Newhouse newspaper as a client. In those days we
were pushed to cost justify our products and services to make the
sale, and to do that you needed financial information on the
client.
Problem was the newspaper didn't HAVE any financial information.
Department heads only had a spending limit ($50K if I recall)...
anything (and I mean *anything*) below that limit and they were
free to buy whatever they wanted. Anything larger and they would
either divide the invoice into pieces below their limit, or they
would go to their manager with the next higher spending limit and
have them make the purchase. Only on really large acquisitions
did purchases rise to the level where central management might
become involved, but since each department head ran his (always
"his") own fiefdom and only bought for his own group, very few
things ever encountered any higher order review.
Predictably the results were chaos. No two departments had the
same equipment, and what they did have was rarely interoperable,
but none would change what they used, because it was their turf.
Nobody knew what their profit margins were, or if any particular
function was profitable at all. Overall the paper was
tremendously profitable... so much so that the actual margins at
the top were a closely held secret. So much so that they just
didn't bother with petty things like financial management... and
what was most disturbing was that they were all incredibly smug
about the whole arrangement. "Numbers? We don't got to show you
no stinking numbers!"
So, these days when I see people like the Seattle Post
Intelligencer (locally referred to as "The P.U.") going bankrupt,
I just smile and say, "It's about time." Watching another font of
political correctness and liberal dishonesty collapse is just
frosting on the cake.
Howard| 4.17.09 @ 10:57AM
I love liberal hypocrisy. They always pounce on greedy businesses
that do not pay taxes, but, when it comes to them, the rules no
longer apply. Red Star, RIP
dcd| 4.17.09 @ 11:00AM
The tea parties could have used some central planning. If you
want to do a protest demonstration schedule it for the weekend,
or maybe only liberals have jobs to go to on a wednesday.
Marc Jeric| 4.17.09 @ 11:14AM
Our dcd is right - we need some central planning for the next tea
party. One-million-man&women; march on Washington to protest
our marxist government! Kill the earmarks! Government employee
unions should be illegal - they are a criminal conspiracy against
the people!
Terry| 4.17.09 @ 12:50PM
I like Mr. Jeric's idea about governmental workers. What is the
point of they're being unionized? Is the U.S. government
operating sweatshop conditions at the DMV-like offices? Even if
it isn't a criminal conspiracy against the people, it sure seems
like one. Now, since we cannot fund a campaign to outlaw
government worker unions on anywhere near the scale that union
lobbyists can, whatever should we do?
boria| 4.17.09 @ 1:45PM
A newspaper or the AP, or UPI, could sell its content on the web
with advertisers sharing the page and paying for the "privilege"
of appearing next to the article to help the bottom line.
Unfortunately the Strib does not qualify as a newspaper.
Only the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg can charge for access
to their contents. Why? Because readers want quality and the
truth!
Cheers!
El Rey| 4.17.09 @ 2:28PM
So, another leftwing rag bites the dust.
Gee, what will the Democrats do without their propaganda arms?
…that Minnesotan and Hot Air blogger Ed Morissey said “would certainly set off screeches of class-warfare howling in the Strib’s editorial section if any other corporation tried it.” Read the Full Story: Tags: Minneapolis Star Tribune This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You…
L. Ross| 4.17.09 @ 5:22PM
As we are watching these papers die on the vine, along with most
cable news channels, I do feel something stirring in my breast.
Yes, I do believe I feel Hope for Change in the political climate
of this nation.
Timothy| 4.17.09 @ 9:25PM
These newspapers are just a microcosim of all failed liberal
policies. From the Soviet Union all the way down to the Strib,
these ponzi schemes reach the bottom of the pyarmid eventually.
PCP Smoker| 4.17.09 @ 10:26PM
The NY Times, Miami Herald, Chi Tribune and Sun Times, and the
Trib all serve leftist metropolitan areas. So why are the libs in
Minneapolis & St Paul and all other liberal cities not
reading newspapers that are specifically tailored to them?
Have leftists grown bored with their own propaganda? WTF?
Cow Rie| 4.17.09 @ 10:49PM
Soon, the Government will give a tax payer bailout to the
newspaper business.
Oh, wait. It will be know in the land of Obama as an "investment"
for the "social benefit" of the community. Welcome to
Orwell-o-bama.
bob montgomery| 4.17.09 @ 11:11PM
Maybe a benefit could be organized for the paper, and bring in
talent like Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, David Shuster and
Rachel Maddow to promote it ......?
…laws of corporate taxation. Ones they’ve long been in favor of imposing on other people’s businesses. The Strib is using up its last lifeline. But it’s really been drowning for a while. Read More Share and Enjoy: Related posts: Don’t Assume it is not a Good Time to Exit I have been hearing of an increase in the number... State Tax Burdens Each year the Small Business and Entrepreneurship…
…my fill, and then topped it off a little while later with the second half of a special raw chocolate bar I'd been saving for the occasion (Sacred Chocolate 69%). Incredible! BEDTIM… The American Spectator : The Sinking Strib ( spectator.org ) - April 17, 2009 Rather than change their ways or face the music, the powers behind this struggling newspaper would rather, in true liberal form, beg for money or an…
…my fill, and then topped it off a little while later with the second half of a special raw chocolate bar I'd been saving for the occasion (Sacred Chocolate 69%). Incredible! BEDTIM… The American Spectator : The Sinking Strib ( spectator.org ) - April 17, 2009 Rather than change their ways or face the music, the powers behind this struggling newspaper would rather, in true liberal form, beg for money or an…
Indy Republican| 4.18.09 @ 2:49AM
Obviously, the readers who don't agree with the paper's bias, and
therefore didn't buy it, were at fault for its demise. I'm
certain that qualifies for some sort of invented charitable
handout from The Messiah.
…biscotti, hummus, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. That's not what was making me so mad, however; we'd lived the high life ($25 per day) while on … more information: changing the rules on how to eat chocolate Some one add text Categories: news bytes 0 responses so far ↓ There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.. You must log in to post a comment. April…
…sugar content at all and is very hard for the untrained palate. When the black chocolate tasting, you can melt in the mouth instead of chewing. This causes less bitter and more flavorful! More articles: The Sinking Strib If you force someone to eat chocolate cake every day, they will quickly tire of it. The journalists in this country have been outed as social liberals, … Extreme Frugality: Full-Price Fury All…
Frantz I Korfhage| 4.18.09 @ 9:09AM
334 signers for the petition - hardly a groundswell of support!
They have more employees than that, don't they?
…would rather, in true liberal form, beg for money or an exception to the laws of corporate taxation. Ones they’ve long been in favor of imposing on other people’s businesses. via The American Spectator : The Sinking Strib. This entry was posted on April 18, 2009 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or…
Jimm T.| 4.18.09 @ 12:20PM
DON'T celebrate to soon! It appears Francy Nancy wants to
"bailout" newspapers. Better contact you're congressional reps
and put a stop to this farce. The government in charge of the
news. Tommy and Benny must be rolling over in their graves.
Fish Wrappers Hardest Hit! — New England Republican Fish Wrappers Hardest Hit! by Hotspur Liberal Broadsheet Too Worthless to Save Bad news (?) on a quiet Sunday morning. Minnesota libs are losing a hand-stainer. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is going under. And with typical delusional self-importance, the libs in…
Robert Rosencrans| 4.19.09 @ 9:19AM
Soon you will get your news from paid government agents.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Newspaper-bailout-fan-joins-Obama-team--43139717.html
It had gone largely unnoticed that former Los Angeles Times
columnist and Georgetown law professor Rosa Brooks had been
tapped by the Obama administration for a senior spot in the
Pentagon.
Brooks, whose last two columns at the Times were "Bail Out
Journalism" and "Bush's Big Lies" is a pretty hard-line liberal
who frequents the sets of Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann.
Her legal work, which focuses on international human rights law,
includes stints with Amnesty International and the George
Soros-funded Open Society Institute .
Her last diatribe against George W. Bush includes both scare
quotes around "war on terror" and a Bush-Nazi comparison:
"How did such dangerously bad legal memos ever get taken
seriously in the first place?
One answer is suggested by the so-called Big Lie theory of
political propaganda, articulated most infamously by Adolf
Hitler. Ordinary people "more readily fall victim to the big lie
than the small lie," wrote Hitler, "since they themselves often
tell small lies ... but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale
falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate
colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could
have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously."
As I said, no neo-con is she. I suspect once she gets into a few
staff meetings with actual military folks, she'll go over like
sand fleas in Mosul. Brooks' boss, Under Secretary of Defense for
Policy Michelle Flourny may have her hands full.
But what about the idea of bailing out newspapers?
But Brooks' final piece at L.A. Times calling for a federal
bailout of the newspaper industry had as a subhead "Other
democracies pay for accurate reporting, so why shouldn't the
U.S.?" What's breathtaking, though, is her suggestion that the
government license approved news outlets and then fund their
work.
"Years of foolish policies have left us with a choice: We can
bail out journalism, using tax dollars and granting licenses in
ways that encourage robust and independent reporting and
commentary, or we can watch, wringing our hands, as more and more
top journalists are laid off or bail out, leaving us with nothing
in our newspapers but ads, entertainment features and crossword
puzzles."
Brooks won't be setting media policy from the Pentagon, but this
is another indication that the momentum for some kind of National
Public Publishing is gathering steam in the new Washington.
We've already had the risible idea from Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.,
to allow newspapers to go tax exempt if they promise not to
influence politics and lots of talk from nostalgic baby boomers
like John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi about needing to hold on to
old-fashioned newspapers.
I've spent my life since age 17 working for and loving
newspapers. But the idea of a government-licensed press will
destroy much of the innovation that will emerge from the creative
destruction of the current media order.
Maybe papers can find a way to monetize content a la iTunes, or
maybe they all have to be replaced by a million aggregated micro
news outlets. Who knows, but we know that good ideas don't come
from government bailouts.
Have you seen the PUMA?
Michael L. Hauschild| 4.19.09 @ 7:22PM
"Soon you will get your news from paid government agents." Bob, I
believe you have your tenses confused. Also, living in the
flyover zone has me somewhat at a disadvantage, where do I look
for the PUMA?
…marriage really does is destroy the basic concept of marriage, surely the pathway to a New Barbarism. — Tim O’Neill Pompano Beach, Florida FAIL WITH YOUR OWN MONEY Re: Nicole Russell’s The Sinking Strib: Funny how “the writers, editors, photographers, and other staff of the paper” are looking to our (taxpayers) money for their salvation rather than putting up their own. May we (the…
surfcitybob| 4.21.09 @ 2:42AM
The failure of the liberal Government schools is complete, even
though these failing papers serve liberal markets, no one can
read anymore!
Radley| 4.21.09 @ 12:44PM
"The failure of the liberal Government schools is complete, even
though these failing papers serve liberal markets, no one can
read anymore!"
Include our immigration policies as well - 10s of millions of
85-IQ mestizos have no interest in, and no aptitude for, curling
up on a Sunday morning to read think pieces, in any language.
…slowly emerging farther out of his hole to vent progressively the full vials of his bottled up hatred against his own country. — Robert Henderson BLEEDING INK AND MONEY Re: Nicole Russell’s The Sinking Strib: Better and better. Spring has returned even to my step. The swooping birds sing. Bees buzz the blossoms. The market has spoken…rebukingly. As the great American philosopher Nelson Mundt says,…
Trackback| 4.26.09 @ 9:03AM
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Utilization on individual accounts should typically be less than
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…in Hot trends News The Sinking Strib If you force someone to eat chocolate baked sweat bread each day, they will fast tire of it. The reporters in this nation have been outed as amicable liberals, … read more Extreme Frugality: Full-Price Fury All 4 kids flitted about, still hairy from eighth month and to illustrate asking for no-no's such as chocolate biscotti, hummus, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.…
"Soon you will get your news from paid government agents." Bob, I
believe you have your tenses confused. Also, living in the
flyover zone has me somewhat at a disadvantage, where do I look
for the PUMA? www.led-lamp-manufacturer.com
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Old Soldier| 4.17.09 @ 7:30AM
"The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper."
"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers."
Thomas Jefferson
Steve Clemens| 4.17.09 @ 7:58AM
I will really miss the strib. What will I use to start fires in the fireplace?
Griff| 4.17.09 @ 8:42AM
"While we appreciate comments from all vantage points, this site is not a forum for political viewpoints. If you have a problem with the newspaper's content we suggest you write a letter to the editor..."
I've written numerous letters to the editor of the Red Star, but none have been published to date. Expressing a conservative argument that liberals are unable to refute apparently doesn't make the editorial pages. Good riddance!
Mattled| 4.17.09 @ 8:53AM
One by one---they need to fail (much like Obambi's Marxist Utopia dreams).
Let's start with NYT, then NBC. Start calling advertisers on NBC.
Curly Smith| 4.17.09 @ 9:07AM
There's a continuing typo in the article that needs to be fixed. You omitted the "t" in "The Stinking Strib". Forget about them being a charity, how in the world did they, and the NYT, escape being shut down by the EPA and then classified as SuperFund Sites? Was somebody in the EPA paid to overlook the mass emissions of bio-waste?
Robert Rosencrans| 4.17.09 @ 9:31AM
If you force someone to eat chocolate cake every day, they will quickly tire of it.
The journalists in this country have been outed as social liberals, who vent their political beliefs through their half witted articles.
The public simply wants the facts and those are hard to find these days.
The liberal papers who are collapsing are proof positive the tea parties needed no central planning, and that you can't sell the public garbage and tell them it's cake.
The Only Republican in Seattle| 4.17.09 @ 10:55AM
It has admittedly been years ago, in another city, but I used to have a large Newhouse newspaper as a client. In those days we were pushed to cost justify our products and services to make the sale, and to do that you needed financial information on the client.
Problem was the newspaper didn't HAVE any financial information. Department heads only had a spending limit ($50K if I recall)... anything (and I mean *anything*) below that limit and they were free to buy whatever they wanted. Anything larger and they would either divide the invoice into pieces below their limit, or they would go to their manager with the next higher spending limit and have them make the purchase. Only on really large acquisitions did purchases rise to the level where central management might become involved, but since each department head ran his (always "his") own fiefdom and only bought for his own group, very few things ever encountered any higher order review.
Predictably the results were chaos. No two departments had the same equipment, and what they did have was rarely interoperable, but none would change what they used, because it was their turf. Nobody knew what their profit margins were, or if any particular function was profitable at all. Overall the paper was tremendously profitable... so much so that the actual margins at the top were a closely held secret. So much so that they just didn't bother with petty things like financial management... and what was most disturbing was that they were all incredibly smug about the whole arrangement. "Numbers? We don't got to show you no stinking numbers!"
So, these days when I see people like the Seattle Post Intelligencer (locally referred to as "The P.U.") going bankrupt, I just smile and say, "It's about time." Watching another font of political correctness and liberal dishonesty collapse is just frosting on the cake.
Howard| 4.17.09 @ 10:57AM
I love liberal hypocrisy. They always pounce on greedy businesses that do not pay taxes, but, when it comes to them, the rules no longer apply. Red Star, RIP
dcd| 4.17.09 @ 11:00AM
The tea parties could have used some central planning. If you want to do a protest demonstration schedule it for the weekend, or maybe only liberals have jobs to go to on a wednesday.
Marc Jeric| 4.17.09 @ 11:14AM
Our dcd is right - we need some central planning for the next tea party. One-million-man&women; march on Washington to protest our marxist government! Kill the earmarks! Government employee unions should be illegal - they are a criminal conspiracy against the people!
Terry| 4.17.09 @ 12:50PM
I like Mr. Jeric's idea about governmental workers. What is the point of they're being unionized? Is the U.S. government operating sweatshop conditions at the DMV-like offices? Even if it isn't a criminal conspiracy against the people, it sure seems like one. Now, since we cannot fund a campaign to outlaw government worker unions on anywhere near the scale that union lobbyists can, whatever should we do?
boria| 4.17.09 @ 1:45PM
A newspaper or the AP, or UPI, could sell its content on the web with advertisers sharing the page and paying for the "privilege" of appearing next to the article to help the bottom line.
Unfortunately the Strib does not qualify as a newspaper.
Only the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg can charge for access to their contents. Why? Because readers want quality and the truth!
Cheers!
El Rey| 4.17.09 @ 2:28PM
So, another leftwing rag bites the dust.
Gee, what will the Democrats do without their propaganda arms?
Pingback| 4.17.09 @ 2:56PM
Western Center For Journalism » Blog Archive » The Sinking Strib links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
L. Ross| 4.17.09 @ 5:22PM
As we are watching these papers die on the vine, along with most cable news channels, I do feel something stirring in my breast. Yes, I do believe I feel Hope for Change in the political climate of this nation.
Timothy| 4.17.09 @ 9:25PM
These newspapers are just a microcosim of all failed liberal policies. From the Soviet Union all the way down to the Strib, these ponzi schemes reach the bottom of the pyarmid eventually.
PCP Smoker| 4.17.09 @ 10:26PM
The NY Times, Miami Herald, Chi Tribune and Sun Times, and the Trib all serve leftist metropolitan areas. So why are the libs in Minneapolis & St Paul and all other liberal cities not reading newspapers that are specifically tailored to them?
Have leftists grown bored with their own propaganda? WTF?
Cow Rie| 4.17.09 @ 10:49PM
Soon, the Government will give a tax payer bailout to the newspaper business.
Oh, wait. It will be know in the land of Obama as an "investment" for the "social benefit" of the community. Welcome to Orwell-o-bama.
bob montgomery| 4.17.09 @ 11:11PM
Maybe a benefit could be organized for the paper, and bring in talent like Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, David Shuster and Rachel Maddow to promote it ......?
Pingback| 4.18.09 @ 1:43AM
The Sinking Strib links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.18.09 @ 1:57AM
Changing The Rules On How To Eat Chocolate links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.18.09 @ 2:12AM
Changing The Rules On How To Eat Chocolate links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Indy Republican| 4.18.09 @ 2:49AM
Obviously, the readers who don't agree with the paper's bias, and therefore didn't buy it, were at fault for its demise. I'm certain that qualifies for some sort of invented charitable handout from The Messiah.
Pingback| 4.18.09 @ 5:26AM
» changing the rules on how to eat chocolate news bytes links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.18.09 @ 6:02AM
Changing the rules on how to eat chocolate | DependMedia.com links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Frantz I Korfhage| 4.18.09 @ 9:09AM
334 signers for the petition - hardly a groundswell of support! They have more employees than that, don't they?
Pingback| 4.18.09 @ 12:07PM
The Sinking Strib « Depravity links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Jimm T.| 4.18.09 @ 12:20PM
DON'T celebrate to soon! It appears Francy Nancy wants to "bailout" newspapers. Better contact you're congressional reps and put a stop to this farce. The government in charge of the news. Tommy and Benny must be rolling over in their graves.
Pingback| 4.19.09 @ 7:28AM
Fish Wrappers Hardest Hit! — New England Republican links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Robert Rosencrans| 4.19.09 @ 9:19AM
Soon you will get your news from paid government agents.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Newspaper-bailout-fan-joins-Obama-team--43139717.html
It had gone largely unnoticed that former Los Angeles Times columnist and Georgetown law professor Rosa Brooks had been tapped by the Obama administration for a senior spot in the Pentagon.
Brooks, whose last two columns at the Times were "Bail Out Journalism" and "Bush's Big Lies" is a pretty hard-line liberal who frequents the sets of Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann.
Her legal work, which focuses on international human rights law, includes stints with Amnesty International and the George Soros-funded Open Society Institute .
Her last diatribe against George W. Bush includes both scare quotes around "war on terror" and a Bush-Nazi comparison:
"How did such dangerously bad legal memos ever get taken seriously in the first place?
One answer is suggested by the so-called Big Lie theory of political propaganda, articulated most infamously by Adolf Hitler. Ordinary people "more readily fall victim to the big lie than the small lie," wrote Hitler, "since they themselves often tell small lies ... but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously."
As I said, no neo-con is she. I suspect once she gets into a few staff meetings with actual military folks, she'll go over like sand fleas in Mosul. Brooks' boss, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michelle Flourny may have her hands full.
But what about the idea of bailing out newspapers?
But Brooks' final piece at L.A. Times calling for a federal bailout of the newspaper industry had as a subhead "Other democracies pay for accurate reporting, so why shouldn't the U.S.?" What's breathtaking, though, is her suggestion that the government license approved news outlets and then fund their work.
"Years of foolish policies have left us with a choice: We can bail out journalism, using tax dollars and granting licenses in ways that encourage robust and independent reporting and commentary, or we can watch, wringing our hands, as more and more top journalists are laid off or bail out, leaving us with nothing in our newspapers but ads, entertainment features and crossword puzzles."
Brooks won't be setting media policy from the Pentagon, but this is another indication that the momentum for some kind of National Public Publishing is gathering steam in the new Washington.
We've already had the risible idea from Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., to allow newspapers to go tax exempt if they promise not to influence politics and lots of talk from nostalgic baby boomers like John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi about needing to hold on to old-fashioned newspapers.
I've spent my life since age 17 working for and loving newspapers. But the idea of a government-licensed press will destroy much of the innovation that will emerge from the creative destruction of the current media order.
Maybe papers can find a way to monetize content a la iTunes, or maybe they all have to be replaced by a million aggregated micro news outlets. Who knows, but we know that good ideas don't come from government bailouts.
Have you seen the PUMA?
Michael L. Hauschild| 4.19.09 @ 7:22PM
"Soon you will get your news from paid government agents." Bob, I believe you have your tenses confused. Also, living in the flyover zone has me somewhat at a disadvantage, where do I look for the PUMA?
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In It to Win It links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
surfcitybob| 4.21.09 @ 2:42AM
The failure of the liberal Government schools is complete, even though these failing papers serve liberal markets, no one can read anymore!
Radley| 4.21.09 @ 12:44PM
"The failure of the liberal Government schools is complete, even though these failing papers serve liberal markets, no one can read anymore!"
Include our immigration policies as well - 10s of millions of 85-IQ mestizos have no interest in, and no aptitude for, curling up on a Sunday morning to read think pieces, in any language.
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Greened to Death links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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fix bad credit, on fix bad credit, links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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changing the rules on how to eat chocolate – photos | Actual Trends links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
FDAFA| 12.21.09 @ 8:36AM
"Soon you will get your news from paid government agents." Bob, I believe you have your tenses confused. Also, living in the flyover zone has me somewhat at a disadvantage, where do I look for the PUMA?
www.led-lamp-manufacturer.com
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