Bob McChesney and John Nichols have called for the government to help promote more quality, “accountability” journalism. So have former Washington Post editor Leonard Downie, Jr., and journalism historian Michael Schudson, in their recent Columbia Journalism School-sponsored report.

Many journalists, understandably, are skeptical of government support. As one writer responded to the Downie/Schudson report, “How many independent government-subsidized [or] funded news sources are there in the world? Somewhere between zero and none. Letting the government control the media is the first step toward a dictatorship… .”

Local news was a focal point at the recent FTC workshop, “How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?" Reed Hundt reported on the Knight Commission recommendations and emphasized the role of local news in promoting the traditional U.S. policy goal of localism both in newspapers and in broadcasting. Matthew Gentzkow reported on his study that the entry and exit of newspapers from local communities have the most pronounced effect on voter participation in local elections. Tom Rosenstiel emphasized again that local newspapers have more reporters on the ground to cover local news stories than all other local news entities combined, and drew the logical conclusion: Economic threats to local newspapers strike at the heart of the availability of information concerning the issues of public importance to local communities.

Every Martin Luther King Day, I honor Dr. King’s legacy by watching video clips of his speeches. But it’s not just his speeches I seek out; I tap into an entire archive of black intellectuals and civil rights leaders for inspiration and guidance.

It’s been one amazing week for Net Neutrality. More than 20,000 people filed pro-Net Neutrality comments with the FCC before the docket closed at midnight Thursday night. It was a remarkable outpouring of public support.