U.S. Sen. Angus King is not an idiot.
But sometimes, he does a pretty good imitation of one.
Maine’s junior senator is technically an independent (wink, wink). King recently joined 18 other senators (strangely enough, all of them Democrats) in signing a letter to Senate leaders calling for any future stimulus package to include financial aid for a special interest close to their liberal hearts:
Newspapers.
“[C]ommunities across the country risk losing one of their key sources of accurate information about what citizens need to know and do in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the letter said.
I’m not sure where these communities are, but in the rural backwater where I live, I’m bombarded daily with far more information about the coronavirus than I want or need. Once I get past stay home, wash your hands, don’t touch your face, wear a mask, and don’t spit on the produce, I’m done. If I wanted more, it’s readily available on TV, radio and the internet. My local biweekly newspaper is a sad anachronism.
When it comes to funding, there are plenty of more crucial issues than newspapers.
King apparently lives in an alternative universe for idiots. “Reliable local news and information has been critically important during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he told the Lewiston Sun Journal, “yet it has become more scarce.”
I think he meant “scarcer.” Also, “have” rather than “has.” King needs a good editor. After all the layoffs, lots of them are available.
The majority of Maine’s daily and weekly newspapers, including the Sun Journal and Portland Press Herald, are owned by multimillionaire Reade Brower, who operates them as a sort of noblesse-oblige hobby. Most of the rest of the state’s print journalism outlets are the property of the Bangor Daily News, run by the wealthy Warren family. Both these organizations have had the audacity to put links on their websites asking readers to donate money to help them cover expenses, even though these rich people need more cash like I need more beard hair.
I subscribe to papers put out by both companies. That’s the extent of my generosity toward for-profit corporations owned by rich people.
But even if newspapers weren’t toys of the privileged class, there’s another, more serious reason why the news media and their customers should oppose a government bailout:
With money comes control.
Once newspapers begin to suckle at the federal teat, they’ll quickly become dependent on it. Which could make them hesitant to scrutinize or criticize those controlling the flow of funds. Politicians who don’t like what the press is saying about them — both President Trump and former Gov. Paul LePage come to mind – have long histories of threatening all manner of restrictions on news gathering. Giving these narrow-minded despots the power to suppress negative coverage is tantamount to turning the First Amendment into toilet paper.
If you think that’s farfetched, consider that public broadcasting, which derives significant income from both state and federal coffers, has often adopted the strategy of letting other news outlets break the most controversial stories (and take the heat for doing so). Maine Public and National Public Radio then summarize what their braver colleagues have already uncovered, rather than risk offending their most important funding sources. The rest of their news hole is filled with the blandest sort of non-coverage (“Maine Congressional Leaders Have Mixed Views on Infrastructure Bill”).
None of this is to say we shouldn’t support local newspapers, just as we should be doing what we can to help out all local businesses. The best way to do that isn’t charity or welfare. It’s to offer your patronage.
If you want accurate information on important issues, subscribe to at least one newspaper, in print or digitally. If you own a business and can afford to advertise, buy some space in your local daily or weekly. If all you can manage in these desperate times is to offer your support, that’s better than nothing.
But don’t be squandering tax dollars on Angus King’s latest flirtation with idiocy.
Donate your thoughts by emailing aldiamon@herniahill.net.
Al, if you should run out of beer money, you could make a killing as a gig proofreader.
Bailing out the newspapers is a lot like parachuting supplies out of an airplane. You never know where the packages will land. The rascals will grab whatever they can, and the needy will get the crumbs. Here in San Francisco, two of the biggest papers are the Examiner and SF Weekly, both owned by a Canadian publisher, Black Press (not be the confused with the Black Press of America). So our local news is filtered through a foreign source.
Both papers just underwent a major shift: the Examiner cut its staff hours and SF Weekly stopped publishing entirely, going completely online. This corporation will probably be first in line for the newspaper bailout, while struggling papers like Street Sheet, published by the Coalition on Homelessness, will likely be left with an empty cup.
Your column threw a firecracker into Angus King’s tent, but I think it’s a lost cause. It’s always hazardous to pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.
Agree about government support for newspapers. I’m not sure Reade Brower is as rich as you think, but he might be. But I definitely think more scarce read better than scarcer. Has instead of have is unforgivable.
Bailouts of the titans are not the answer. The first thing we need to do is to help those that can help themselves. We might not like the idea but many of us were brought up with the knowledge of how to feed ourselves. We need to support our farmers and make grain,seed and implements more available for those who want to. Local food sources are making a come back in this country an this is the kind of thing that pays back in many directions. Of course this is for the little guy so no one sucks big dollars into a bank account anywhere so good luck with anything that makes sense. What people need to understand is these people that are not allowed to fail are holding the rest of us hostage to a economy where costs have got way out of hand. Our government needs to” support” not give help in the basic human needs of food,housing and healthcare and let the rest of the chips fall as they may. This is just a start. Oh yes, by the way are these twelve hundred dollar checks socialism? Cant be. I have not heard of anyone giving them back.
Al… first of all I don’t include the Bulldog in my criticism.. I read it every day and think it is doing a great job… However when I see what has happened to once great newspapers like the New York Slime and the Washington Compost it is very sad and makes be believe that journalism is dying… Won’t even start on once respectful Maine Newspapers that have been around for a long time but going downhill fast.. sad that they don’t even know why… As for Sen. King.. I will leave that for another day and time….
I believe that the San Francisco Chronicle is the major newspaper in SF. The SF Examiner has been a “freebie” for many years. The San Jose Mercury News is the largest newspaper in the SF Bay Area, with double the circulation of The Chronicle.
Most newspapers have been in financial trouble for years. So much competition from other media sources.
Advertising revenue used to be a reliable source of income for even the free ones.
Newspapers, in print or digital form, supply a window to the world, especially if you’d like information that comes in a form other than 30-second sound bites.
J.S., The government does support those things you mentioned, the government subsidizes all things agricultural, provided those farms are big enough to actually produce enough to support a sizable population. Take bread for example, it’s pretty much a staple of the American diet, an average loaf of locally sourced white bread, $6.00, a loaf of government subsidized white bread from Hannaford’s, $1.80. Local beef hamburger $9.00 a pound, Government subsidized beef hamburger from Shaw’s $4.79 a pound and if you catch it right, you can get 80/20 for $2.50 a pound. If you have the money to buy local, have at it, but unfortunately, local farms can’t feed thousands of people. Smithfield Foods, puts out some good spiral cut ham, they produce about 6 billion pounds pf pork products a year, there isn’t a local farm that can do 1/10th of that or fit the budgets of the average working man.
There are Federal Housing Authority loans to help people buy a house. ALL hospitals are government subsidized which makes many emergency room procedures free or on a sliding scale. And there is something to be said about preventative health care, which most people don’t do. that whole saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” that’s pretty true. A yearly check up, $150-$250 without insurance. Getting something treated that was easily treatable if caught early, it could be thousands of dollars. COPD can be caused by smoking, quitting smoking can prevent that entirely or it can be treated if caught early, if not, it can lead to inhalers, nebulizers, or even oxygen tanks or generators and a corticosteroid prescription, an Advair prescription can be up to $400 a month.
Just to through this out into the mix. How much was the amount given to the SBA? Roughly $420,000,000,000. That’s billions of dollars. How much has made it out to ordinary small businesses? By the SBA’s own website. As of 4/20/2020 under the SBA Disaster Assistance Update EIDL Advance COVID-19 program, 755,476 business received $3,293,963,000. Under the SBA Disaster Assistance Update Nationwide Economic Injury Disaster Loans COVID-19 program, it has helped 26,919 for a dollar amount of $5,566,913,788. And they state they are not accepting any applications at this time because they ran out of monies. I’ve been out of High School for awhile now but my basic math skills are pretty good still. The two programs they list total $8,860,876,788. Again, roughly assuming my beginning amount is correct, the $420 BILLION, that’s leaves $411,139,123,212 unaccounted for. Now, they are asking for another $340 Billion or so for the PPP program. Can someone tells us where the balance of the original dollars allocated in the first program went to before more money is given away to who knows where???
Not my view shed, Here’s the thing, the SBA doesn’t just give money to people, they can’t, they aren’t lenders nor are they relief providers, They give the money to the banks, who are not in the relief business either, they are in the loan business, the figures you mentioned are only businesses who have qualified for small business loans, the other money is just sitting in the banks, the other $310 billion is going to more banks to fund more small business loans. Banks who have nothing to lose and everything to gain are not going to give the money away either, the interest alone will make them millions, and they are going to give preference to the most creditworthy and best investment customers first, for example if you make and sell homemade soap and you sell 400 bars a month and you apply for a small business loan to cover expenses during this down time, you won’t get it, because your business isn’t going to allow you to repay the loan. I have read that this next phase of money comes with provisions that is going to address that issue and force banks to offer relief rather than loans which would make the money more readily available to more small businesses.
HRTLSS-Big enough is just the problem I am talking about. Why not support the price of grain so thousands of small groups can raise their own food. Many do it now and it would solve some of the problems we are running into now with all our eggs in one basket. There are tens of thousands of people like me that was raised to look after themselves across the country. Until the price of grain went out of sight a lot of people done this My wife and I make our own bread .
Give people the chance to look after themselves if they want to, thats all I am asking. There is still a lot of independent people out there that do not expect everything done for them. As far as the old, to busy working to do anything for yourself argument I have to agree to a point but we as a society have taken this way beyond what is good for us.Your whole conversation was based on some one else supplying you not with the means to help your self but the finished product to eat. This attitude is why urban politicians start losing support at the city limits. This is what happens when you start depending on others to much,you lose a little more control of your own life. Our newspapers of a former day used to jump right into the meat of these problems, now they just nibble around the edges according to the whims of the owners. Mabe along with the rest of this country they need a new beginning its not like we have to reinvent the printing press. And dont even get me started on pro-active health care and living within your means.
. Well, we all know privacy is no longer sacred, being by blabbermouths in your community who lie about you or if it’s the news we hear. I am sickened by how mean people can be and how, when there is no drama, they can’t stand it, so they create drama The newspapers won’t tell you what is really going on. They have a gag order
so far the federal government has put the people another $5800 per person in debt during this crisis, not including the interest, while the while the people received at most $1200 per person. what a bad deal. no more bailouts.
this speech from Davy Crockett should be standard reading in elementary school:
I’m waiting for the Bulldog to start putting out some info on just how badly the Democrats have screwed up this state, BEFORE the ‘crisis’, and now have created a perfect storm. It’s on them, and them alone. A lot of ppl seem to not understand what just happened, and how badly they’re about to be hurt economically. Give it a couple of months.
If they don’t repeal a bunch of junk that they recently passed, people will be losing homes. The standard move of ‘just tax the workers more!’ ain’t gonna cut it this time. Nope; it just isn’t going to BE there to take. So just as excessive bailouts at the Fed level aren’t a good idea…neither is running your state so far down the rabbit hole that you’ve lost all resiliency and cannot respond to something like this without hurting people. Too bad they spent most of that rainy day fund…it’s pouring out.