January 29, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
A New York Times opinion article about how philanthropists should save newspapers made Allison Fine want to throw her paper back out into the snow.
Ms. Fine, an expert on nonprofit technology and communications and the host of the Chronicle‘s Social Good podcast, writes on her blog that endowing newspapers and giving them nonprofit status is a “stupid idea.”
She takes issue with the article’s premise that because the Internet, in the words of Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, has the potential to be a “cesspool” of misinformation, print newspapers must be saved.
Of course false information is available online, says Ms. Fine, but it also survives on television, the radio, and in many print publications. That doesn’t mean that many bloggers and Web journalists aren’t doing a good job of exposing truths and providing accurate information.
She also finds fault with the article’s “naive assumption” that charitable status is intended for companies with no business model, and that raising billions of dollars, particularly today, is doable.
Maybe an endowment would allow the Times to survive, she says. But most other newspapers would be left in the cold. She says: “Not exactly a prescription for preserving and renewing an important resource.”
What do you think about the idea of endowing newspapers?
Editor’s Note: The topic of endowing newspapers has received quite a bit of attention throughout the media world this week. Here are a few other pieces that explore the issue:
