On Wednesday, Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., introduced the Local Journalism Sustainability Act (H.R. 3940) for the 117th Congress, a bipartisan bill that seeks to help local newspapers sustain financial viability through a series of three tax credits.
America's Newspapers supports the passage of this legislation, which offers a series of three tax credits aimed at sustaining and providing a pathway to viability for the local journalism industry in the years to come.
Visit the America's Newspapers website for full details, download an editorial and editorial cartoon for reprint, and learn how you can help to ensure the success of this legislation.
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enigma58
To say I am skeptical of this measure ever becoming law is an understatement. While Congress is free to subsidize or incentivize broadcasting and broadcasters, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as interpreted in several key decisions by the Supreme Court, specifically bars the government from seeking to promote or control the press.
This attempted promotion or control includes any taxes or tax credits penalizing or incentivizing journals based on their news content, affecting the employment or compensation of journalists, or seeking to penalize or incentivize advertising with the objective of discouraging or promoting any or all newspapers. As described by famed journalist Carl Schurz,it is the obligation of the press to publish, "without fear or favor and in the interests of the whole people."
Thursday, June 17, 2021 Report this