The bold measure by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to provide every 18-year-old with a free newspaper subscription (part of a 600-million-Euro initiative to bolster the industry) has others wondering about what governments could do for stressed media.
In his latest post, Jeff Jarvis is suggesting that the new Obama administration could do much more for news media without a direct bailout or subsidy.
He suggests a national initiative to provide broadband for everyone, tax subsidies for the poor to purchase computers, and a national media literacy and education effort.
I sense in his post no great interest in preserving the paper. Rather, he wants news organizations to flourish in the digital sphere and advertisers to feel they have a greater incentive to spend there.
