The public seems strongly opposed to the administration's plan to shove tax dollars into the maw of a dying media industry;

[H]ere's basically zero popular support for several already unlikely initiatives the FTC is looking into in order to support the "reinvention of journalism." Rasmussen Reports polled 1,000 people on whether they would support proposals-like a tax on consumer electronics to help news organizations or a taxpayer-funded program to support young journalists through AmeriCorps-and the answer was a decisive no. A monthly tax on cell phone bills? 90 percent no! A tax on consumer electronic devices? 84 percent no! The young reporter program? 70 percent no! A White House commission to help save journalism jobs? 55 percent no! (Via MediaPost)

Most respondents seemed to think that news organizations would be fine without government help, with 58 percent saying they were "confident that online and other news sources will make up the difference if many newspapers go out business."

Other proposals in the FTC report include additional IP rights to support claims against aggregators, antitrust exemptions so that new organizations can jointly put up paywalls and a national fund for local news. Rasmussen didn't ask about those. The proposals will be talked about at a roundtable discussion at the National Press Club next week.

h/t: FreeRepublic

Clarice Feldman