Why is it "non-trivial" to start a new paper? Because the government
taxes a new business to death, requires license fees, minimum wage for
new workers, drives up the cost of supplies with regulation, creates
zoning laws to prevent you from putting the press in your garage, puts
strict regulations on banks to make it harder for them to lend you the
startup cash, passes anti-trust laws to prevent you and other papers
from colluding against the giant to beat him at his own game, and a
thousand other barriers to entry. Sure, the big guy climbed that hill
too, but now he can look at you down there in the valley and laugh; the
government created the mountain, and once the first one climbs it, he
can use it to keep out competition. Without the government, the playing
field stays level.
And who says you need a damned paper anyway? Last time I looked, humans
needed food, water, and air. If you don't like Murdoch, don't buy the
paper. I get sick of hearing people whine about cable TV rates--I don't
own a TV. I don't want one, I don't need one, I don't pay for it. 99% of
the things people complain about the price of are luxuries (with the rare
exceptions like the cost of rice in Japan).
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>