FTC Policy Recommendations for Improving Journalism

FTC STAFF DISCUSSION DRAFT FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION STAFF DISCUSSION DRAFT: POTENTIAL POLICY RECOMMENDATION

I like most of these recommendations. Let us go back to the development of the community newspaper. Not only will it promote literacy but the discrepancy between who gets vital information and who does not will narrow.

I caution the FTC to not be anxious to throw money at the problem. New publications should have help becoming established in the community. There are many people who think being a reporter is glamorous and easy and it is not. It can be dangerous, tedious and no fun at all. I would hate to see people who want to be committed to journalistic integrity take precious funding and squander it when the going gets tough or to use a newspaper as their personal platform.

I have felt for years that there should be some non-profit newspapers available to the community so that they can get vital information offered by government agencies. As long as the reader understands the source of the information, it will read about the same as a newspaper in mainstream. They get funding from businesses-national, regional and local.
They bend and sway under the weight of editorial sacrifices as well.
However, public affairs reporting could make a comeback. It is why I wanted to become a reporter in the first place but by the time I graduated with a degree in Journalism, those positions had been eliminated.

There seems to be some opposition to these suggestions by the FTC. I wonder if it is due to not wanting to compete for readership? Once fiduciary concerns are satisfied--news is news. Either the reader is being served news that is vital or they are being fed a diet of fluff.

I hope the FTC moves forward with these recommendations. The Gulf Oil Spill would not have happened. Enron would not have happened. You get the picture.