What's keeping news organizations from trying the "low-profit" model?

[Commentary] With so many journalism luminaries focused this week on new business models at Aspen Institute's FOCAS09 conference, I was a little surprised not to hear more about the potential for the low-profit limited liability corporation, or L3C. The L3C is a hybrid corporation that straddles the line between for-profit and nonprofit enterprise. Vermont last year was the first state to pass a law allowing formation of L3Cs, and Illinois this month became the most recent. Several other states are considering similar legislation, as is Congress. Some have looked to the L3C model as a solution for newspapers because it allows a corporation to take on investors who are willing to accept varying rates of return - or possibly none at all. Foundations would be assured that their investment would qualify as a program-related investment - a crucial distinction under tax law - while socially responsible investors might be willing to settle for, say, a 3 percent return. So where is the grand experiment in L3C newspaper journalism? We're still waiting to find out. One of the big problems is that nobody really wants to go first, says Jay Hamilton, director of the DeWitt Center at Duke University. The concept remains fraught with uncertainties, not the least of which is whether newspapers can return to profitability after the recession.