FTC to Assess Business of News

The Federal trade Commission is planning two days of workshops in December — titled "From Town Criers to Bloggers: How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?" — to examine the state of the news industry. A report will be issued after the workshops that may make recommendations to lawmakers on changes in policies on anything ranging from taxation of news organizations to copyright issues, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. He said no specific issues had been chosen. Though some may be uncomfortable with government oversight of any aspect of journalism, the FTC seems to be "attempting to play a facilitating and public educational role in gathering together various disciplines and perspectives to talk about the crisis in mainstream journalism," said Neil Henry, a professor and dean at the graduate school of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. "The government's willingness to raise the profile of this issue, and to help explain why it is important for a national conversation, I think in general is welcome."