Media watchdogs to be put on gov. payroll via FTC, billions in new taxes to be collected and re-allocated by federal gov.

• From draft: "Tax credits for organizations with journalists on the payroll. The formation of a
• new journalism cadre within the AmeriCorps."...

6/12/10, Dawes, "The Internet is the best mechanism ever invented for the distribution and promotion of baseless conspiracy theories. But it is also a matchless device for distributing information on true, and truly disturbing, developments. Case in point: the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) recently

• released discussion draft on "reinventing" journalism.

Those who have read the 35 page document are mostly left agog by its absurd reach and its dangerous suggestions.

Among the items under discussion: Enhanced postal subsidies for newspapers, which already have their own uniquely cheap postage rates.

• Tax credits for organizations with journalists on the payroll.

• The formation of a new journalism cadre within the AmeriCorps.

The estimated $35 billion required to keep traditional journalism afloat would be raised via several mechanisms, including a check-off box on tax returns. Those who are sympathetic to the industry's plight -- nationwide they must number in the dozens -- could send a portion of their tax return to ameliorate the woes of the nation's MSM....

• No plan is complete unless it calls for new taxes, and the discussion includes some doozies, including substantial new
• taxes on news aggregators on the Web.

Critics have quickly dubbed this plan the "Drudge Tax," but it would also impose new taxes on others, including Digg and the Huffington Post. The paper also floats a proposal to add a five percent tax on consumer electronics, producing an estimated $4 billion annually.

• These funds would be distributed by the FTC."....(the federal government)

from the American Thinker, 6/12, "Putting the watchdogs on the payroll"

• 6/10: 85% of Americans say freedom of the press more important than helping newspaper industry-Rasmussen poll, via Tapscott

Tweet Stumbleupon StumbleUpon