Today is J-Day in the U.S. Senate

By Tim Windsor @timwindsor May 6, 2009, 6:31 a.m.

A reminder: Today, in Washington, The Senate Commerce Committee convenes a panel of celebrities and journalists to discuss “The Future of Journalism.”

The notion of a Senate hearing about fixing the news business puts me in mind of something Ronald Reagan might have said, mockingly, if he were still stalking the crust: “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help you cover the news.”

Whatever the actual outcome of such an event, if nothing else the YouTube excerpts should be entertaining, especially if David Simon decides to unleash one of his screeds about the newspaper business. If you’d like to follow along, the schedule is here – it begins at 2:30 eastern.

POSTED May 6, 2009, 6:31 a.m.

Show tags

TWITTER FACEBOOK EMAIL

Joshua Benton

PressPad, an attempt to bring some class diversity to posh British journalism, is shutting down

“While there is even more need for this intervention than when we began the project, the initiative needs more resources than the current team can provide.”

Richard Tofel

Is the Texas Tribune an example or an exception? A conversation with Evan Smith about earned income

“I think risk aversion is the thing that’s killing our business right now.”

Jeff Jarvis

The California Journalism Preservation Act would do more harm than good. Here’s how the state might better help news

“If there are resources to be put to work, we must ask where those resources should come from, who should receive them, and on what basis they should be distributed.”