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The New York Times debuted a new online feature yesterday called “Times Wire,” in hopes that it will boost internet readership and ad revenue. Fashioned along the lines of a frequently updated blog, the effort underscores two chief concerns for the newspaper industry: the rise of internet news consumption and the decline of traditional ad revenue sources. With the onset of the current economic recession, major newspapers have filed for bankruptcy protection while earlier this year, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer became the first large scale print medium to shift its operations exclusively online. That, coupled with vast layoffs in newsrooms across the nation prompted a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate to hold a hearing last week on the future of journalism and newspapers. Senator Ben Cardin from Maryland has put forth a solution based on turning ad-based newspapers into non-profit organizations. Jim Moroney, the publisher of the Dallas Morning News, testified before lawmakers urging them to consider tax relief, antitrust exemptions, and a way for newspapers to generate revenue from online aggregating sites as preferred options. The media reform organization Free Press has also put forth ideas to save the news including creating new ownership structures, tax incentives for diverse ownership and allocating funds for journalistic training.

GUEST: Craig Aaron, Communications Director of Free Press.

Download the report by Free Press, Saving the News: Toward a National Journalism Strategy at: www.freepress.net/files/saving_the_news.pdf.