There’s nothing that screams potential conflict of interest like a major newspaper’s owner getting millions in subsidies from the federal government it’s supposed to be objectively covering.
The New York Times reported that part of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” (BBB) catastrophe includes funneling nearly $1.7 billion into local news outlets. Did you know? Guess what? The Times Gannett was responsible for the report, the publisher that publishes liberal newspapers. USA Today. The Times said that Gannett, “the largest newspaper chain in the country, could Receive $37.5 Million the first year, and then tens to millions every year thereafter.” The relief would come “in the form of a payroll tax credit earmarked for local news organizations, a small part of the Build Back Better bill that the House passed on Nov. 19,” according to The Times. No wonder USA Today BBB appeared to have hired him for public relations. It ran a puff story on the bill Nov. 16 with a glowing headline, “Biden’s Build Back Better bill would give young people jobs to fight climate change. What would a new CCC look like?” [Emphasis added.]
Are conflicts of interests common?
USA Today ran another pro-BBB slobber fest of a news item Nov. 19 headlined, “What’s in the House-passed Build Back Better bill? Paid leave, universal pre-K and more.” It makes sense for a newspaper to run such pro-Biden propaganda if doing so proves lucrative for the company that owns it. The Times noted that Gannett currently “publishes roughly 250 local newspapers, including The Arizona Republic, The Detroit Free Press and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,” in addition to USA Today.
Gannett Media president of News Maribel perez Wadsworth tried to justify the apparent conflict in interest that her company was receiving millions of dollars from BBB The Times:
‘Scale allows us to solve for some things … but at the end of the day they’re local newsrooms with local reporters and photographers and editors, up against the same headwinds.’
The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board emphasized the danger of the federal government’s scheme to fund journalism, which compromises the purpose of a free press:
Subventions from the federal government would be more harmful than beneficial. Washington Subsidies conflict with the democratic mission [Sen. Ron] Wyden [D-OR]describes and requires an independent press. Local papers in the mold of left-leaning National Public Radio stations wouldn’t serve a politically diverse public. Americans are already suspicious of the media and increasing dependence on government would only make the distrust worse.
Gannett seems to have lost the idea of maintaining free press.
Conservatives under attackGannett Headquarters can be reached at (703) 854-4000 to demand that federal funds for journalism outlets are withdrawn.
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