News You Can Endow
Today, we are dangerously close to having a government without newspapers. American newspapers shoulder the burden of considerable indebtedness with little cash on hand, as their profit margins have diminished or disappeared. Readers turn increasingly to the Internet for information — even though the Internet has the potential to be, in the words of the chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, “a cesspool” of false information. If Jefferson was right ... Full Story »
Posted by Fabrice Florin
I was struck by the author's thoughtful observation that a $5 billion dollar endowment could pay for the New York Times $200 million annual budget. Given the choice between fundraising for such an endowment or losing the quality journalism that newspapers like the Times provide, my first reaction is: let's find the money and make sure we preserve at least a couple newspapers before they fall into oblivion. We need strong journalistic organizations more than ever, and I think they have a better chance to survive and fulfill their public mission as non-profits than as for-profit ventures.