Thread by @BBuchman_CNS

My write up of @BernieSanders plan to fight the corporate ‘Assault on Journalism’ courthousenews.com/sanders-vows-t…

Dr. Steven Thrasher, a professor of journalism at Northwestern University, said among the notable proposals outlined by Sanders is his suggestion to tax targeted ads online and use those funds to prop up “nonprofit civic-minded media.”

“Various municipal, state and federal government programs have produced ‘civic minded media’ for decades, from WNYC to NPR and PBS. Readers of Sanders’ plan ought to think of taxing targeted ads as just, well, taxed,” Thrasher said.

“Say Facebook or Google or Apple put up a preview link on their platform to a story I wrote. Only a fraction of the readers will click through my story, but Facebook or Google or Apple get the benefit of letting their viewers get the most important info from my work.”

The company could place an ad next to a headline and it may sell that information to another company, Thrasher continued.

But in this example, neither the writer of the piece nor the publisher see any profit.

“Nor will these companies pay much, if any, taxes on the exchange. How is that fair? These companies get the benefit of the labor of journalists without paying them or into the public good?” Thrasher said.

It literally pays to invest in local news and diversify markets. Corruption flourishes when no one is looking.

The aforementioned study is linked in the senator's op-ed. You can find it here:
cjr.org/opinion/bernie…

When it comes to criticism that Sanders' plan is a "socialist takeover," of media @JNaureckas at @FAIRmediawatch weighed in: “This is very much a capitalist proposal in that it’s talking about antitrust regulations that keep the media industry from becoming too consolidated."

"It doesn’t change ownership, it prevents that ownership from being monopolized and that anti-monopoly approach is standard capitalist philosophy,” he said.

Thrasher emphasized the so-called socialism some critics point to already exists.

“The handful of companies which control media in the U.S. ask for socialism all the time but they call it lobbying."

"Apple, for instance, has aggressively been aggregating news media for its products without paying for its production, all the while paying no taxes. That’s corporate welfare,” he said.