Counterpoint: It's not time to turn into government-run news

It was surprising to me that Reed Anfinson, a leader in the community newspaper industry in Minnesota, would suggest a government bailout for newspapers ("Local newspapers need help," August 17). The program he suggests would be similar to what farmers get for not planting crops.

Not that small newspapers don't need help. While many larger newspapers have been able to weather the storm, smaller papers have just taken it in the chops. They were unable to access more than a trickle of revenue from the internet, while traditional advertising sources dried up. The pandemic has been a back-breaker.

I watched with some horror when the Hibbing Daily Tribune, my former employer, disappeared a month ago, replaced by a regional newspaper that will attempt to cover the entire Iron Range. Merging newspapers has been the trend for some time. It may be the best of some bad choices.

Newspapers are businesses. They can't buy ink or paper or pay their employees if they don't have revenue. It's as simple as that. Without money, these once vibrant institutions are just dinosaurs dodging the meteorites.

But take money from the government? There's something in that thought that sends shivers down the spine of journalists. A primary role of newspapers is being a watchdog of government, an aggressive force for keeping government honest and effective, a fearless defender of the citizen.

Power follows money, and for newspapers to be in any way beholden to the Great Trough just doesn't seem like a good idea.

So what's the alternative? To just let newspaper after newspaper twist in the wind and then die of exposure? Where will the people who read those newspapers get their news? Who will be covering the City Council and school board meetings, printing the obituaries, following local sports, keeping track of the essential core of activity in a community? Who will write the courageous editorial calling for change?

I can dimly see a two-part evolution in coming years. The first part is that many more newspapers are going to die. A second part is that the smaller newspapers need to figure out new revenue streams, particularly from electronic media, to survive and carry on their essential mission. There must be some good work being done out there that others can emulate.

We're at the crossroads. But it's not time to make a deal with the devil.

Al Zdon, of Mounds View, is the former editor of the Hibbing Daily Tribune and the Minnesota Legionnaire.