Subsidize me.

Ezra Klein, the young expert on all things healthcare, economy and politics, advises on how he sees ... his industry ... competing in the coming years. And then he promptly runs up the white flag.

I remain one of the few who think that government subsidies of some sort will be required to sustain the media.
...
The new book "The Death and Life of American Journalism" makes the same argument at greater length. The question is how to structure the subsidies such that they're sufficiently indirect. Subsidizing postage didn't feel like subsidizing reporting, somehow. Maybe newspapers will be like churches, and get special tax treatment?

Heh. I think the journalists of old would laugh at the moxie of these newcomers. Nothing like climbing into bed with your sources and subjects -- and asking to be paid for it even.

Ezra has a lot of company -- these young New journalists content to feed off the corporate model, but absolutely bound to the old ways so far as I can see.

Where is the Change again, the drive to compete?

Honestly, maybe we need a bit less educated expertise, and a bit more gumption to ask the hard questions and get the job done. Of course, you'd have to want that job in the first place, not just a public relations position with the power to influence the bailout entitlement mentality that seems so contagious these days.

Say anybody know, do they offer a vaccine for that?

From AIG to Conan O'Brien, remember: there's no shame in being bailed out when your product tanks. In some circles, you get props just for pulling off the bluff that you had something of value to offer, and cashing in on the contract early.

No matter how the game plays out, something tells me you'll craft a very successful career for yourself, Ezra. Kinda like the showy QBs who run up their individual stats, yet never seem to compile a winning team record.

And don't worry: the Union will survive. With or without a subsidized media, content to cuddle with the power players, and with no aspirations to independence, period. There will always be those that will rise to write, you can bet on it.