All the King’s Horses and All the Kings Men…
Since I am the eternal optimist, I’ll have mine sunny side up.
The existing newspaper model is failing. It was failing before the crash and now that we are in the midst of what some are calling the Great Disruption, it has fallen hard. The first of many papers have either closed up shop or migrated online. The future for the daily printed page looks bleak and there may never be a way to “fix” this “problem.”
There has been talk of turning newspapers that are “too big to fail” into endowed institutions. The raison d'etre for these proposals is to keep the printed word as a check on government power and corruption. It is ironic then that these new institutions would be limited by a section of the I.R.S. code from covering politics convincingly or choosing sides on issues of grave national importance. Imagine all of the frivolous lawsuits alleging media bias one way or the other?
You can also experiment with smaller local endowments that focus on community issues and leave the coverage of politics to for profit ventures like Politico or the Hill. An interesting new option is to become an L3C or Low Profit Limited Liability Corporation.
These organizations lack the absolute prohibitions on political or legislative activity of a 501(c), but also lack the tax-exempt status of a charity. They can make a profit, but profits are secondary to providing a public good to the community.
If the old system is largely dying off with the exception of a few hardy brand names, what will rise up to fill the void? Right now a mix of free and paid content providers is emerging online to provide local, in-depth, or specialized coverage.
Visit each of the sites listed below as one of them may have the found the answer. Not a way to put Humpty Dumpty back together again, but a way to survive and thrive in a world without fragile giants.
