Newspapers shouldn’t expect government bailout, according to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.
When CNN’s White House correspondent Ed Henry asked about the Boston Globe closing, Gibbs told reporters, “Obviously [President Barack Obama] believes there has to be a strong free press. I think there’s a certain concern and a certain sadness when you see cities losing their newspapers or regions of the country losing their newspapers. So it’s certainly of concern. I don’t know what, in all honesty, government can do about it.”
But he added, in reference to skeptical questions reporters asked last month in response to Obama’s push to cut federal spending, “I would note that looking at some of the balance sheets, I wondered how you guys didn’t think $100 million meant a lot a few weeks ago, but looking at some of the balance sheets $100 million seems to me a lot.”
Gibbs fielded the question the same day the New York Times Company announced it was postponing the process to close the Boston Globe, the preeminent paper in Massachusetts.
On Wednesday, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the communications subcommittee, will hear from Knight Foundation President/CEO Alberto Ibargüen and others concerned about the industry’s future. (On April 21, the Subcommittee on Courts and Competition and the Internet held a hearing about a new age for newspapers and the role the Internet plays in reshaping the industry.)
“The history of our republic is inextricably linked to the narrative of our free and independent press,” Kerry said when he announced the May 6 hearing. “Yet today, America’s newspapers are struggling just to stay afloat. I called this hearing to directly address a problem that for too long has had us turning the other way. Whatever the model for the future, we must do all we can to ensure a diverse and independent news media endures.”
The hearing is scheduled to be televised live on C-SPAN 3 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET.
