Once Proud, News Outfits Accept Handouts
May 8, 2020
News outlets have long refused government bailouts, because they are supposed to be free of government influence. News outlets are more COVID-19 victims and according to the Star Tribune’s article, “News Outlets, Long Resistant To Government Help, Take Loans” they are forced to take loans or fold their last paper newspaper.
During the crisis, news outlets, were forced to scale back as advertising and sales revenue were lost. Due to the profit loss, employees were furloughed and wages lowered. Government small business loans are acting like blood infusions for news outlets, because it allows them to pay employees and keep providing news. The conflicts of interest of taking the loans are concerning:
“Kelly McBride, ethics specialist at the Poynter journalism think tank, said she’s spoken to the heads of more than a dozen news organizations about applying for a loan.In each case, she advised them to go for it — a stance she could not have conceived advocating for at the beginning of the century. ‘On an industry level, we have crossed a threshold without putting a lot of thought into it,’ McBride said.
It’s clearly a conflict of interest, and not unreasonable for consumers to wonder if an organization receiving government money will aggressively report on what the government does, she said. It’s up to the news organizations to explain to consumers that they will still be closely watching how the stimulus package works.”
Despite taking government small business loans, news outlets are informing their readers/viewers that they are receiving the money but will remain steadfast to quality journalism. News outlets are not without their allies, because lobbyists have fought for news outlet relief in the next stimulus package. The government plans to spend $5 billion on health-related advertising with news outlets as part of the package.
Despite their ambivalence of journalists, politicians realize that local news outlets are important and want to keep them running.
Whitney Grace, May 7, 2020
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