FTC Wants to Tax Online News Sites, Electronic Goods to Support Newspapers
FTC Wants to Tax Online News Sites, Electronic Goods to Support Newspapers
Posted 06/09/2010 at 5:03am
| by Paul Lilly
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How would you feel about a 3 percent tax on monthly cell phone bills to help newspapers and traditional journalism? If that doesn't sound appealing, you're not alone - some 84 percent of Americans oppose such a tax, according to a new Rasmussen Report.
In fact, Americans don't like any of the tax ideas the FTC has proposed. The above cell phone levy is just one of many proposed taxes designed to help keep privately owned newspapers from shutting up shop. The FTC has also suggested a tax on the purchase of electronic goods, like computers, ebook readers, and tablets. Not surprisingly, some 76 percent of those polled in a national telephone survey are against the idea.
Yet another idea being tossed about is to tax certain websites, like the Drudge Report, in order to help the newspapers that they draw their headlines from. This too is being met with public opposition, this time to the tune of 74 percent.
The concern on the part of the FTC is that offline newspapers are having a tough time staying afloat, yet most Americans view local newspapers as more reliable than online news sources. Nevertheless, about 58 percent of Americans said they were confident that other news sources would fill in the gap should traditional papers go out of business.
More stats here.
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Zazubovich
June 09, 2010 at 3:26pm
It is precisely because they no longer cover the topics of interest to their former readers that they are failing. When I was young there was a labor section in the paper. Not since Reagan has there been one. So no reason for people who work for a living to read the paper because they aren't important enough to cover. Business sections are huge, with everything from stock reports to picture sections with the movers and shakers in management and finance, you know, the people who crashed the economy with fraud and con games. There aren't enough of them to keep a newspaper afloat, are there? Who owns, runs, and edits newspapers? Rich guys like Rupert Murdoch, who runs newspapers worldwide, all of which reflect his personal opinions, most of which are right wing and kooky. But right wing plus boobies sells most of his papers. Go look at Colbert's White House Correspondent's Dinner speech for the honest truth about our media, then look up Operation Mockingbird.
And maybe we would rather read more specialized news sources that feed our biases-drudge,red state, free republicans, militia, white power, teabagger central or whatever, or maybe some DKOS, talking points, eschaton, rude pundit, fafblog, crooks and liars?
igoka
June 09, 2010 at 9:42am
So to support L.A Times , N.Y Times etc who are pro democrats they have to tax Drudge Report who are actually pro conservative-republican ??? Really ???????
tri8gman
June 14, 2010 at 1:35pm
The Drudge Report is more of a blog/aggregator who's big story was "President Of Opposite Party Lied (About his BJ)."
I know people who "fact check" Fox News with the Drudge Report. Seriously.
Oh, and it's not like "This money is coming from only Republican electronic publications and going to only Democrat newspapers."
Still bullshit.
AndyYankee17
June 09, 2010 at 11:59am
guess which politicians give the FTC their power? guess which publications lean towards those politicians?
zepontiff
June 09, 2010 at 9:14am
The idea of these taxes or that almost 30% of people would support them. Revolution is coming.
zepontiff
June 09, 2010 at 9:14am
The idea of these taxes or that almost 30% of people would support them. Revolution is coming.
mesteario
June 09, 2010 at 8:42am
Bailouts for everyone!!!! Who's next and how much am I going to pay for it?????
lunchbox73
June 09, 2010 at 8:07am
What's next? Tax Walmart and give the money to the Mom & Pop
store down
the street? Newspapers deserve to die. They can't figure out a way to
compete
with the internet and they fill their pages with useless liberal biased
drivel
and regurgitated stories from the AP.Here's a hint - A lot of newspapers charge for printed, day old,
static,
papers yet offer most of the same news in real time, for free, on the
internet.
Anything wrong with that scenario? Maybe charge for online content and
give the
papers away for free. Just a thought...Normal
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mesteario
June 09, 2010 at 8:00am
Let them die out!!!! Less garbage at my door step and landfills. Media that is unable to adapt to changes in our technology needs to die out. I get enough junk mail to line my bird cage as it is.
BigC
June 09, 2010 at 7:07am
If we live in a world of capitalism then its those people who make newspapers fault for not makeing a better product to directly compete with free online news(if it remains that way).
gendoikari1
June 09, 2010 at 7:03am
Now what? The DOT would tax cars to support horse-drawn carriages?
aviaggio
June 09, 2010 at 6:57am
If newspapers can't figure out a way to survive then they should go out of business, simple as that. This subsidizing crap is really out of control.
Could you imagine a century ago the government instituting a tax to support the horse-drawn carriage industry in the wake of the automobile? The gaslight industry on the adoption of the electric light bulb?
Vegan
June 09, 2010 at 6:17am
Ridiculous. What does my cell phone have to do with some newspapers I have no interest in whatsoever? Let them die.
AndyYankee17
June 09, 2010 at 6:08am
tax the drudge report and give that money to the NY times. sounds perfectly fair to me
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