Nieman blogger suggests state statutes to allow newspaper directors to consider more than profits

Barry Sussman of the Nieman Watchdog site at Harvard University, has posted about the launching of a new resource -- a rotating "blog" which will carry column-like commentaries on media issues by 11 journalism veterans. The first blog, by retired Des Moines Register editorial-page editor Gilbert Cranberg, proposes a movement to amend state corporation laws to allow boards of directors of news organizations to consider not just profitsbut "the journalistic quality of the newspapers and the needs of the communities served by them in making business decisions." Cranberg is co-author of the book: "Taking Stock: Journalism and the Publicly Traded Newspaper Company."