FTC Corrects Misinformation on Journalism Initiative

On May 24, the Federal Trade Commission released a staff discussion draft in advance of the next workshop on the future of journalism. The discussion draft collects proposals and public comments articulated during previous panel conversations and in reports and articles about the future of journalism. The staff discussion draft states:

"[T]hrough this document, we seek to prompt discussion of whether to recommend policy changes to support the ongoing reinvention of journalism, and, if so, which specific proposals appear most useful, feasible, platform-neutral, resistant to bias, and unlikely to cause unintended consequences in addressing emerging gaps in news coverage."

The FTC has not endorsed the idea of making any policy recommendation or recommended any of the proposals in the discussion draft. Recent press reports have erroneously stated that the FTC is supporting and proposing some of the public comments (for example, taxes on electronic devices, favoring one medium over another).