Colin Murphy: Murky future of paper tigers

If the state funds public service broadcasting, why shouldn’t it also back some newspapers?

What do newspapers have in common with popular music, stand-up comedy and circuses? These have all traditionally been capable of surviving without public subsidy.

Pop and comedy still largely rely on selling their wares. But traditional circuses, struggling to compete with more modern entertainments, now rely on Arts Council subsidies.

As circulation and advertising revenue fall (despite some individual newspapers, such as this one, bucking the trend), newspapers are starting to look like ...