Public policy concerns as they relate to the new Detroit Media Partnership plan

Surviving two days now without a real newspaper at my door.

Better than I thought.

I wrote this to a friend of mine at The Partnership (in a slightly different form) and I figure I better publish it on my own before it makes the rounds there (I may be too late).

What does publishing a newspaper for home delivery only three days a week and reducing the size of the other days in dealers and racks mean for public policy and the watch dog function of the press?

My position is that it suffers with the resultant reduction in resources to keep government in check.

Two concerns that are intertwined:

1. There really hasn’t been a model that shows a way for online publications of any kind to achieve the kind of revenue stream that is anywhere close to the revenue of print publications.
2. The staff reductions that would have to eventually be made because of the lack of revenue (and the resulting ROI reductions, or more accurately the inability for the Partnership to meet ROI expectations, even if there is an increase) would eventually reach beyond production and circulation and impact news-gathering and reporting personnel.

What is the principle of limitation of public information in a well-ordered society today? The principle is simply the people's need to know. And the need to know of a free people, in a free and open society, is in principle unlimited. Indeed, this is why, of course, a political censorship is regarded, as I have said, as imprudent and also unrightful, a violation of right. (http://woodstock.georgetown.edu/library/Murray/1964A.htm)

"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate to prefer the latter."- Thomas Jefferson

I would argue the following:

1. If this plan were in place by the end of 2007, Kwame Kilpatrick would still be Mayor of Detroit
2. Other media (Television, radio and internet) do not have the resources, influence, or reputation of the traditional newspapers. Their influence on public policy, even though they may be more widely consumed, is incomplete and limited. This is due, in part, because these media rely heavily on newspapers for their news without apology!
3. The best outcome of the DNLP plan would be for there to be some miracle to occur and the newspapers would find a way to capture revenue on the internet that would be comparable to print. Barring that, (And this one might really piss you off, sorry) for the sake of public policy in this country, the best outcome would be for the plan to fail and fail miserably. Were this plan to succeed, many more newspapers would follow and the press issues that I have cited would multiply exponentially.

Mad rantings

I've seen some crazy letters in my day, but this was kind of disturbing.

This was sent out to several elected officials yesterday. Starts out with some wild claims and maintains the rage throughout.

I won't reveal his name (unless he attempts this nonsense again, then all bets are off), but he belongs to the Ann Coulter Fan group on Yahoo.

Go figure.

March 30, 2009

You have failed to protect Michigan's manufacturing jobs. You allowed the Muslim, Marxist terrorist to that calls himself President, to turn this country in to a communist state. Your only job is to advocate for and vocally protect Michigan jobs. Michigan bond and preferred stock holders of Michigan's corporations have been betrayed by you. You are a worthless stooge of the Marxist takeover of the American and Michigan economy by the terrorist that resides in the Whitehouse. I see no difference between the September 11, 2001 attacks on the American Homeland and the economic terrorism that you have supported by your failure to vehemently support and protect the Michigan manufacturing industry.

I will do everything possible legally possible to remove you from office. You should be in jail for backstabbing the people of Michigan who hired you to protect their economic and social interests. It is not fat cat Wall Street types whose retirement lives have been destroyed. Every­day, middle class people who worked hard to save for a comfortable retirement, invested in the Michigan the manufacturing industry, that provided for their livelihood, that have been be­trayed.

Your Marxist political agenda, that supports the destruction of the American economic system, has made you the enemy of all Michigan residents. Everyday I work with Michigan residents, from labor union members to middle management white collar employees and retirees, people who worked a lifetime, played by the rules, paid their taxes, saved for the education of their families, and had a social contract that their property and rights would be protected. They have been mortally wounded by your failure to do your job. You are a failure and an embarrassment to all Michigan residents. Your failure to do your job – to protect the economic interests of Michigan residents – requires you to resign from office.

You can put your head in the sand, deny everything I have written, but you can not fail to do your job and remain in office. Your failure to do your job proves that you are a Marxist eco­nomic terrorist with the intent to destroy the system that created the most successful economy in the history of mankind.

The legacy costs of the Michigan’s manufacturing industry – is the cost of creating every Americans’ economic success. Without the middle class created by Michigan’s manufacturing industry, the United States would be a third-world country. Every American owes a debt to Michigan’s manufacturing industry.