New Orleans and the future of news

[Commentary] The announcement that the New Orleans Times-Picayune would be slashing its staff and cutting its print run to just three days a week has sparked a new round of debates about the future of news. But one piece has been missing in this discussion: the role of media policy.

It is clear that the future of the Times-Picayune is indeed bound up with the future of Internet access in Louisiana. And while I wouldn’t write off the Times-Picayune as a vital local news institution now and in the future, I think it is right to look to nonprofit newsrooms as the best opportunity for growth. However, it’s important to recognize that both ideas are the subject of critical public policy debates happening right now—at the local, state and federal levels. In fact, Louisiana is a microcosm of current debates that are set to shape everything we watch, read, see, and hear.