Waxman: Future of Journalism is a Policy Issue

Speaking at the Federal Trade Commission's conference on the future of journalism, House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) noted that many thoughtful and concerned people have expressed concern that a significant and troubling trend is occurring in the media sector -- developments that threaten the very existence of something very precious to our democracy: the continued existence of a critical mass of quality journalism in this country. He said, "The Internet is replacing the public square as the place where people in cities and towns across America go every day to absorb news and information and to reflect on issues and their meaning for our lives. The atomization of content has resulted in the fragmentation of audiences, so that the commercial basis to support a critical mass of authoritative and informed news and information is melting away. And this is creating a public policy issue of profound import for our future." On the prospect of public funding for quality journalism as a means to preserve a critical mass of resources and assets devoted to public media, Chairman Waxman offered criteria for evaluating any proposal: 1) First, there needs to be a consensus within the media industry and the larger community it serves that the proposal is in the public interest. Congress can't impose a solution to this issue. It needs to emerge from a consensus-building process involving the industry and the larger public. 2) These initiatives require bipartisan support - vigorous endorsement from both sides of the aisle. 3) Those advocating for public funding need to address additional questions. They need to articulate the scope of such support, in terms of the activities to be supported and the dollars required. They need to respond to the concern that government support of journalism would lead to government control of content. And they need to explain the source of revenues.