Newspaper Bailout? Maybe, but Don’t Hold Your Breath

President Obama says the kind of journalism done by newspapers is “absolutely critical to the health of our democracy” and he’s “happy to look at” proposals to save “fact-based reporting.” But don’t expect the newspaper-junkie-in-chief to break out the keys to the bailout vault anytime soon.

With trillions already thrown at the banks, billions spent on the auto industry and a potentially costly health care bill to push through, the president is unlikely to look for new and interesting ways to expand the deficit. Unless you count Afghanistan. — PS

Toledo Blade via The Hill:

“What I hope is that people start understanding if you’re getting your newspaper over the Internet, that’s not free and there’s got to be a way to find a business model that supports that.”

Several bills have been introduced in Congress to aid the newspaper industry, including a Senate measure that would allow newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks. The President was noncommittal about the legislation but said: “I haven’t seen detailed proposals yet, but I’ll be happy to look at them.”

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