The FTC and journalism

The federal government -- namely the FTC and FCC -- last year opened a public debate about what to do about American journalism in the digital age.

The context of course is the the massive contraction in the market-based news industry over the last several years (2008 and 2009 were especially brutal), where thousands of news jobs were eliminated and papers closed their business or shrank the physical size of the newspaper.

The FTC, and FCC, convened a series of workshops on the matter and invited stakeholders from around the country to discuss where to go from here. The FTC will meet June 15 to review what they have heard up to now and have released a draft of policy proposals.

Among concepts: What changes, if any, should be considered for copyright and Fair Use; an examination of government subsidies, proposals for increased public funding, legal changes to encourage new news organizations, hybrid corporations, and innovations lowering the cost of journalism.

Some of the potential changes to media law could affect library science as copyright and fair use doctrine will be re-examined. Also, if some of these proposals become law, they could shape how information users find material, and how would that affect the modern library?

We are in an age of constant news and information creation, from millions of individuals. We are well networked and our tendency now is to share what he have and seek what we want on our own.