Opinion Forum

“First, Do No Harm”: A Plea to the FTC

June 22nd, 2010

On May 24, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (not to be confused with the Federal Communications Commission, which is also trying to help in a crisis not to be wasted) released a document titled “Potential Policy Recommendations to Support the Reinvention of Journalism.”

It must, in the minds of some folks, be time for our masters to push the reset button. The FCC document notes that “this draft does not represent conclusions or recommendations by the Commission or FTC staff; it is solely for purposes of discussion.” On June 4, the FTC further clarified that the earlier discussion draft had not actually endorsed any proposal.

That’s nice.

Maybe it’s just a gas bag trial balloon. On June 11, the FTC posted a charming Fathers’ Day tribute titled DADvice: Stuff Dads Really Say; presumably that didn’t stake out a firm position either. I wouldn’t worry too much; there’s lots of more important stuff happening and most if not all of the proposals under consideration by the FTC would require congressional action to modify copyright laws and the Internal Revenue Code.

Continue reading this article at Pajamas Media »

Articles written by Dan Miller
Tags: AFN, Americorps, FTC, journalism, newspapers, propaganda, satire, VOA
Categories: Humor, Media, News, Politics | Comments (1) | Home

One Response to ““First, Do No Harm”: A Plea to the FTC”

Tom Carter | June 23rd, 2010 at 5:35 am

Thanks for a great article, Dan. It’s a funny, satirical take on a really stupid idea. Anyone, liberal or conservative, who would support government subsidy of the press is a fool.