[LINK] Tax to save journalism?

stephen at melbpc.org.au stephen at melbpc.org.au
Wed Jun 9 21:24:10 AEST 2010


Survey Suggests Majority Oppose Taxes to Save Journalism

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 
<http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/06/08/survey-suggests-majority-
oppose-taxes-to-save-journalism>


The US Federal Trade Commission is considering whether or not it can step 
in and save journalism. 

A "staff discussion" document from the FTC proposes some ideas 
for "Potential Policy Recommendations to Support the Reinvention of 
Journalism" ..

http://www.ftc.gov/opp/workshops/news/jun15/docs/new-staff-discussion.pdf

Among the ideas in the document are various taxes. 

For example, a 5% tax on consumer electronics is mentioned. The document 
suggests this would generate about $4 billion annually. An ISP-cell phone 
tax is also mentioned, which the document says would generate $6 billion 
annually.

Rasmussen Reports surveyed 1,000 adults about such taxes. Here are some 
of the results they are reporting:

<http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/general_business/
june_2010/74_oppose_taxing_internet_news_sites_to_help_newspapers>


- 84% oppose a 3% tax on monthly cell phone bills to help newspapers and 
traditional journalism. 10% favor it.

- 76% oppose a proposed 5% tax on the purchase of consumer electronic 
items such as computers, iPads and Kindles to help support newspapers and 
traditional journalism. 16% support it.

- 74% oppose the proposal to tax web sites like the Drudge Report to help 
the newspapers they draw their headlines from. 18% of Adults favor 
placing an additional tax on Internet news sites.

- 71% oppose the creation of a taxpayer-funded program that would hire 
and pay young reporters to work for newspapers around the country. 14% 
support such a program, while 15% are undecided. 

- 58% of Americans are confident that online and other news sources will 
make up the difference if many newspapers go out [of] business.
It's important to note that at the beginning of the document, it 
says, "This draft does not represent final conclusions or recommendations 
by the Commission or FTC staff; it is solely for purposes of discussion," 
but still, these are potential policy recommendations. 

--

Cheers,
Stephen



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