The United States of America: Unfounded fears of press subsidies

Abstract

One of the central assumptions of US political discourse is that state-funded media subsidies are deeply antithetical to American values, and democratic practice generally. This assumption is rarely challenged, though a good deal of historical evidence gives us reason to doubt it. Not only are various media subsidies firmly established in American traditions, but the historical record shows that both in the USA and across the globe, press subsidies are compatible with democratic self-governance. Still, misconceptions about subsidies abound in the USA and continue to impede rational debates about an important policy option-an option that might be the last remaining systemic alternative to the failing model of ad revenue-supported journalism. The following chapter provides a brief overview of past and present American press subsidies. Drawing from historical and international research, the chapter sketches a political economic rationale for subsidizing media and concludes with some suggestions for future policy trajectories.