Mindy's first time at a congressional hearing

On September 24th I attended a hearing on "The Future of Newspapers: The Impact on the Economy and Democracy. It was a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee that is Chaired by Congresswoman Carolyn Malony, a democrat from New York's 14 district. In attendance was 3 other congressmen. Four individuals testified on the issue.

The Internet has had a large impact on the newspaper industry. There print readership has gone down as individuals have begun to read the paper on the Internet. They are also having problems because their largest source of revenue, advertising, has gone down in favor of advertising on the Internet.

What I found to be very interesting is that the bill that Congresswoman Malony had just introduced was not really what the newspaper industry wanted. Her bill proposes to make it possible for newspapers to become non-profit industries. The Newspaper industry is concerned about that because they do not want their papers to be censored by the federal government. They want to continue to have freedom of the press.

If you are ever in Washington D.C. you should try to attend a hearing. The one that I attended lasted about 2 hours because it was interrupted when the congressman had to go and vote. Most hearings are open to the public. You just walk in and find a seat. You will see many congressman's staff members but not always the congressman themselves. The staffers job is to take notes for their boss and to fill them in later. The hearing that I attended had the chairwoman and one other congressman in the hearing the whole time. One congressman kept coming and going and one came in towards the end. I hear that their schedules are so packed that they are not always able to stay long.