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	Phil's Blogservations Sunday, August 30, 2009 Posted by philgomes 2:50 PM Dear Government: The News Media Doesn't Need You On September 15, the Federal Trade Commission is going to begin offering workshops for media organizations entitled "Can News Media Survive the Internet Age? Competition, Consumer Protection, and First Amendment Perspectives." "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." For one thing, it's unclear how the FTC reconciles the delivery of this seminar with its self-stated mandate of working "for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them." Lacking a "Ministry of Information" in the U.S. I suppose this had to be filed somewhere. For another... Any media outlet that lets in the government, in any form, loses a proportionate share of its credibility. At that point, you might as well call it a "newsletter" or, less charitably, "propaganda." The First Amendment implications, of course, are staggering. Few government intrusions into our lives have ever been rolled back. This is real, and it starts as innocuously as this. Technorati Tags: media, government HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes[[dot}]com SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. If you have a bone to pick, bug the people who wrote the comment or trackback.