US Government Wants To Fund The Press: The Local Journalism Sustainability Act
The constitutional protections guaranteed in the First Amendment apply to all citizens. Everybody has freedom to practice religion as they see fit and to speak freely. It might come as a surprise to the media establishment and even government legislators that the First Amendment protection for freedom of the press also applies to all Americans. Basically, every American is a member of the press.
When government bestows special status and privileges to “journalists” that aren’t provided for all citizens, the nation enters the dangerous realm of press exceptionalism. That’s the notion that journalists play such a unique role in American democracy that they need to be on pedestals. The problem is that journalists can’t be surrogates of rank and file Americans when they are being bought off and compromised by governmental entities privileging the reportorial class.
The journalism industry is being made part of the establishment by an increasing flow of government enticements. The Biden Administration’s Local Journalism Sustainability Act is part of the Build Back Better package. It is working its way through Congress now. The bill helps fund payroll expenses of news outlets, and generates revenue for those outlets by giving tax incentives to advertisers and subscribers. This ill-conceived legislation is super-charged press exceptionalism that will take the teeth out of the press’ historic watchdog role.
The news industry, indeed, does have financial challenges and media executives should well figure out how to keep their failing operations out of red ink. But that’s not the issue here. The issue is how a watchdog press can aggressively hold the government accountable when it is being compromised and bribed by government "doggie treats" aka taxpayer money.
States also want to patronize and exploit the media with special perks. California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a new law that gives reporters unfettered access to demonstrations and protests otherwise closed off by the police. Never mind that there might be legitimate security concerns when police close off a protest or that the mere presence of media can exacerbate demonstrations often designed specifically for press attention.
Even Facebook wants to get in on the press exceptionalism act. The social media giant has increased its protections of journalists from online harassment, shielding journalists in ways other figures in the public arena are not. Any online harassment is inappropriate, of course, but journalists deserve no more protection than anybody else who works in the public eye.
Essentially, all citizens can declare themselves journalists on their own say-so. They can then gather and disseminate news and commentary through whatever means they can manage to access. That’s exactly what the constitutional framers had in mind. The Internet era makes publishing easy. Regular citizens don’t need a printing press or a broadcast license to serve as journalists.
Constitutionally, people who get paid to do journalism or work for media organizations aren’t special or any better than anybody else. But every time the government provides financial benefits or special access for journalists, there must follow a formal definition of who qualifies as State-run media.
