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Public Ownership Of Privately Owned Newspapers

Corporate ownership of daily newspapers is reaching the breaking point, writes Mark Glaser at MediaShift of the turmoil at the Los Angeles Times, a unit of Tribune. The Times faces the same problem as hundreds of other newspapers. Owners and stockholders want profit growth each year, and "could care less about the communities and people who actually read and gain insight from the newspaper." He suggests that if the owners of the Los Angeles Times are impatient with stagnating profits, they should let readers take charge of the destiny of the paper, "not just as citizen journalists but as citizen owners." Glaser notes that the Green Bay Packers have issued stock four times so their fans can buy a piece of the team, while local public broadcasting and even Salon.com have survived on membership drives and pledges. So why not newspapers?

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