James alerts me over at OoL to this piece of excrescent self serving Marxism by David Leigh.
A small levy on UK broadband providers – no more than £2 a month on each subscriber’s bill – could be distributed to news providers in proportion to their UK online readership. This would solve the financial problems of quality newspapers, whose readers are not disappearing, but simply migrating online.
It is difficult to add to the almost universal derision this idea received in the comments to the Guardian article.
What we have here is a business model that has become outdated – quite apart from the lousy quality of journalism produced by lazy, ignorant hacks with little regard for facts or evidence, who will happily reproduce press releases from the latest fake charity “research” with nary a nod to debunking the crap they come out with. This is quite apart from the fact that their output is riddled with errors as I know from having seen my own areas of expertise written about by these cretins.
Yes, quite apart from that, Leigh’s solution to a failing business model faced with a new challenge is to steal other peoples’ money rather than to adapt or die (preferably the latter and quickly while you are about it). Yes, David Leigh wants to steal £24 per annum from you and I to keep himself and his cronies in the manner to which they have become accustomed so that they may continue to pour forth their sycophantic nonsense, half-truths and lies.
There is an answer to that and it is a simple one; fuck right off.
One thing that I haven’t seen in all the discussion about the suggestion is David’s reaction to the public reaction. I get the feeling because he’s not said anything since that he taking it very badly – and good to.
He’s received a sharp reminder that journalists, like politicians, are completely out of touch with the real world – and about as popular.
It may be just co-incidental but The Guardian lost £40 million last year. Same as the year before that in fact.
As usual the lefties’ answer to a financial mess is to increase taxes. Nobody questions the wisdom of paying Alan Rusbridger £800k a year. His view of socialism is clearly more like that of the Union leaders rather than Union members.
“As usual the lefties’ answer to a financial mess is to increase taxes.”
But the Guardian Media Group, whilst advocating this (for the plebeians, no doubt) minimises its own tax affairs by the use of exotic Luxembourg and/or Cayman Islands vehicles.
Rankest hypocrisy of the highest degree.
The Guardian, far from regretting the post, actually doubled down on the ridicule with another in support of it, linking beside the original:
“A broadband levy to fund journalism? Now that’s a very clever idea.
Roy Greenslade offers enthusiastic support for David Leigh’s notion for raising money to subsidise online journalism in future.”
Yes, I saw that. He got taken to task, as well. By another journo no less.
Isn’t this a bit like the Ed Ball’s plan to use 4G licence fees to build houses?
Where does the 4G money come from? Isn’t it a tax on mobile phone companies and or their customers?
Might it not be better to give out the licences for free, conditional on fast roll-out and cut prices? Isn’t that exactly the type of advanced infrastructure we need not new houses for Polish plumbers building houses for Polish plumbers (insert immigrant worker nationality and occupation as required)?
As a courtesy, could people not mention Ed Balls here? I’m getting tired of bleeding knuckles when I punch the wall.