"Eventually government is going to have to be responsible to help and resolve these issues," Waxman told a conference hosted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on the future of journalism.
Excuse me? Do these people think before they speak? Waxman (who incidentally looks overcome by swine flu) almost sounds like he's talking about providing public services, like buses and trains, or garbage collection, in large cities.
The article references this group, named Free Press, which also advocates "net neutrality", or more specifically government-control of the internet. "Free Press, a public interest group, said the search for solutions to the crisis in journalism should be premised on the idea that news-gathering is a public service, not a commodity."
The First Amendment was written to protect news organizations that were critical of the government from prosecution for their ideas. To permit the government to "bail" these conglomerates out, in exchange for their independence (which is dubious at best even now) is absolute insanity.
Imagine this conversation: "Here, we'll take care of your debt, Mr. Newspaper - but you can't endorse any candidates, or criticize any of us." What public service would the media provide the public, while censored and under the government's thumb?
Waxman, and any lawmaker who pushes forward with any sort of act that skirts the First Amendment in this respect should be impeached.
