Stephan: Underneath the chaff of the headlines is where to look to see what is actually going on. That's what I try to put into SR. I believe our democracy is under a coherent and well-funded assault. Much of it involves subtle changes remarked on by few, except those affected.
This report is an example on what I mean. Small town papers where the Trump voter lives are being strangled, replaced by Fox and Sinclair. Basically using the private sector so that the people trying to craft this transition make great profit, a state media has been created. There is the potential of some good news in this though as the lede paragraph spells out.
This is how Neo-feudalism is being constructed. It will allow the appearance of democracy while, in fact, controlling it, through a mix of voter suppression, gerrymandering, manipulation of media, and the legal bribery Citizens United permits. A chain of think tanks, institutes, and the funding of professors who advance the model, is providing the intellectual justification for what is happening.
The newsprint tariffs are being collected, but they are not finalized yet. The Commerce Department is set to finalize its decision by August.
Credit: Maurico Palos/Bloomberg
A dozen House lawmakers have introduced legislation to remove President Trump’s tariffs on Canadian newsprint so a study can be done on how much those tariffs are crushing local newspapers around the country.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., is a response to the 22 percent tariff that the Trump administration has imposed on some Canadian newsprint since the beginning of this year. Noem said that tariff has led to rising costs for local newspapers, and are a threat to their survival.
“In recent years, new tariffs on Canadian newsprint have increased paper prices by 20 to 30 percent,” Noem said in a statement. “That’s significant. A paper that services around 20,000 customers, for instance, could see paper costs rise by about a quarter-million dollars annually, threatening the newspaper’s survival.”
Local papers have been complaining this year about rising costs, and Noem and her colleagues are […]
Mexico had a similar system years ago. ..in :the interest of “austerity” the government controlled the permits for importing newsprint. it worked very well. Putting reporters on the government payroll (under the table) worked very well. Do notice how many of the DC mainstream media talking heads and reporters are wealthy and how many are poor. …Poor is probably zero. Even bottom half of wealth distribution is probably