Cardin Favors Help For Newspapers — But No Bailouts
[Cardin] said “direct government support” would “compromise the independence of our newspapers.” Instead, Cardin made the case that his proposal to help newspapers become nonprofits would ensure objectivity while costing much less. “There is some loss of revenue because you are a nonprofit, and because you are nonprofit you don’t pay taxes. But the newspapers aren’t paying taxes today because you have to have a profit to pay taxes, and they’re not making money. So this is not a matter of loss of federal funds.”
[Do you think he forgot about "no politicking" by non-profits?]

Slate’s Jack Shafer: “Saving Newspapers From Their Saviors” has this to say:

“Here’s hoping that the White House’s detailed-proposals czar keeps the Cardin bill out of Obama’s hands. The last thing newspapers need is the sort of help from the government that turns them into NPR, endlessly begging for contributions, pursuing wealthy philanthropists, and standing in line for government handouts.”

And Obama is not a socialist.

Backwoods Home has another good article on the decline of newsprint.