Senate Bill Seeks to Rescue Newspapers

(NEWSER) - It's only a matter of time before major American newspapers become nonprofits, writes Simon Dumenco in Advertising Age. The idea—he himself wrote about it in 2006, borrowing from the model of the Guardian—is "an inevitability," he writes. And now that a few "suddenly panicky" senators are on board, it will only "gain momentum." But will be newspapers be bailed out along the lines of Detroit or Wall Street? Forget it. More»

Papers would enjoy the benefits of tithing and tax-exemption: Bates

(NEWSER) - As profits continue to fall, some have suggested turning newspapers into non-profit, endowed institutions similar to colleges. A better way to go non-profit would be for the press to declare itself a religion, writes Stephen Bates for Slate. The tax benefits would be substantial, as would legal protections for reporters-turned-priests, and Bates notes that the earliest American journalists were men of the cloth, who would review the week’s events in sermons. More»

Times begs for its life

(NEWSER) - Newspapers are dying, and there’s only one way to save them, write Yale's David Swensen and Michael Schmidt in today’s New York Times: Make them nonprofit, endowed institutions, like colleges. The Internet has made the for-profit model systematically unsustainable, and constant attempts to refinance and cut costs are just “Band-Aids for a gaping wound.” Endowing them would fix all that, making them “unshakable fixtures of American life.” More»

Historic paper ceasing daily publication

(NEWSER) - Sad news from one of America's great newspapers: The New Orleans Times-Picayune has announced that it will cease daily publication this fall. The paper, founded as the Picayune in 1837, will now offer print editions just three days a week, on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, while continuing to offer daily reporting online at Nola.com, reports the Washington Post . The move is expected to cost close to a third of the paper's 150 reporters their jobs, and will leave New Orleans as the biggest American city without a daily paper. More»

In $142M deal

(AP) - Billionaire Warren Buffett's company is making its largest foray into newspapers yet, agreeing to buy 63 papers from Media General Inc. The $142 million deal includes the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Winston-Salem Journal. The company is selling all its papers except those in Tampa, most importantly the Tampa Tribune. Media General says it is in talks with others for those papers. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has owned the Buffalo News for decades and recently bought its hometown paper , the Omaha World-Herald. More»