It is no secret that the newspaper industry is struggling. Circulation numbers are down and valuable advertising dollars are going to the Internet.

And like most failing industries these days, a government bailout is in the works.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has sponsored the Newspaper Revitalization Act, which would give tax breaks to news organizations that restructure themselves into a nonprofit business. No one really seemed to know or care about this bill until President Obama was quoted in a Toledo Blade article Sunday that he wouldn’t mind seeing legislation to fix this problem.

After all, he argues correctly that good journalism is “critical to the health of our democracy.”

But tax breaks? No.

The press exists to serve as a watchdog to the government in all of its forms. Who revealed that the federal government had misled the public regarding its activities in Vietnam? A newspaper. What revealed the governor that left the country to visit his Argentinan mistress and indirectly forced him to admit to the entire nation he was having an affair? A newspaper.
Who revealed that, for two decades, town officials for Crestwood hid from the public that their water supply was tainted with toxins? That’s right, a newspaper.

Promising tax breaks and even loans would co-opt the press’s ability to perform this vital function. It would be hard to trust newspapers that put their financial stability ahead of one of the most important aspects of a newspaper: independence.

Actually, you shouldn’t trust these newspapers if this law is passed and signed, because how much editorial control government officials would have over the paper’s content is unknown. Could newspapers lose their status if they publish critical stories, or receive financial favors if they publish non-critical ones?

As of right now, that answer is no. According to the Library of Congress, the bill has only been referred to the Senate Finance Committee. But any form of government sponsorship will immediately discredit that newspaper in its mission to report the news.

Thanks for the thought, Obama. But we’ll manage on our own.

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