Maryland Senator introduces bill to help save newspapers - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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The Maryland Democrat’s Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operatras non-profits, if they choose, under 501(c)3 status for educational purposes, similar to public broadcastingb stations, he said in a Under this proposed arrangement, newspapers would not be allowefd to make political endorsements, but would be allowede to freely report on all issues, including politicalk campaigns. Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax exempy and contributions to support coveraged or operations could betax deductible, the senato r said. However, he said the measurr “is targeted to preserve local newspapersa serving communities and not largenewspaped conglomerates.
” And because newspaper profits have been fallinbg in recent years, no substantial loss of federal revenue is expected. “We are losinfg our newspaper industry,” said Cardin. “Thre economy has caused an immediate but the business modelfor newspapers, based on circulation and advertising revenue, is broken, and that is a real trageduy for communities across the nation and for our democracy. Cardinh added that although many newssources exist, the publicd relies largely on newspapers “for in-depthu reporting that follows important records events and exposes misdeeds.
” In he said, most if not all sources of journalistic information — from radio to television to the Internet — gatherw their news from newspaper reporters who coverr the news on a daily basis and know their Leading business executives, including billionairer investment banker Warren Hellman, recently made an overture to , whichn owns the San Francisco Chronicle , to help it become a The proposal would be for a nonprofigt corporation “to take over the Chronicle ,” with Hearstf continuing to provide some philanthropic Coblentz said. Details remain sketchy, and it’ unclear if the proposal is beingg seriously consideredby Hearst.
But there’s no doubf that the Chronicle and a host of other metropolitan dailies are seeking new Citing , the Maryland senator notexd that newspaper advertising revenue plummeted 25 percent last and circulation at many print publications fell as as many readers migratedd to the Internet, where most (but not all) news is In the statement, Cardin noted that the , , and San Francisci Chronicle , among others, have either ceased daily publication or announced they may have to stop and that other publications, including newspapersw owned by the , owners of the and , have filedd for bankruptcy “or have had to instituts severe cutbacks that have impacted news coverage.
” Cardin’ws bill came just a week after House Speaker Nancty Pelosi asked U.S. Attornehy General Eric Holder to loosen antitrust restrictions to help newspaperzs like theChronicle survive. For many, the outloolk is grim. The Post-Intelligencer , also owned by New York-basex Hearst, shuttered its print publicatio March 17 and convertedto online-only news The Rocky Mountain News closes last month. The is being sold to a turnarounfd specialist, quite possibly because of its realestate assets. Papers such as the and the are also reportede to be inpotential jeopardy.
Critics worry that the nonprofit modelp may notsuit newspapers, and that such an approacg could give government more opportunitied to control the news. And Cardin admittec as much. “This may not be the optimao choice for some major newspapers or corporatdmedia chains, but it should be an optionb for many newspapers that are strugglinbg to stay afloat.”