White House: Newspaper decline sad, but not cause for bailout

The Globe's precarious future even came up during today's daily White House press briefing -- and the headline was that the newspaper industry shouldn't expect a government bailout.

"A quick question on the Boston Globe today, the news that they may have 30 to 60 days to live," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked. " What's the White House's thinking on the newspaper industry right now and whether or not it may need a bailout, since there are a lot of jobs at stake just as with the auto industry; a lot of people talking about the impact on communities like Boston, Seattle, and places that are losing newspapers? How do you evaluate all that?"

Gibbs replied, "I think that might be a bit of a tricky area to get into given the differing roles. Obviously the President believes there has to be a strong free press. I think there's a certain concern and a certain sadness when you see cities losing their newspapers or regions of the country losing their newspapers. So it's certainly of concern.

"I don't know what, in all honesty, government can do about it," Gibbs added.