I'd like to suggest that the discussion on type of media ownership as it affects journalistic values is somewhat off the mark. A variety of issues dictate what type of ownership structure might work best, especially for a
new media venture. But those issues, I believe, have more to do with legal, tax and funding source questions than with the impact on journalism.

As someone who's spent more than 20 years working for daily newspapers, I've seen a variety of ownership models. I've been fortunate to work for great family owners, but I've also seen a variety of bad ones. Some did not want to invest in the papers they owned. Some used their paper to carry out personal agendas and promote political or other causes. I've seen great papers run by large companies, as well as truly bad papers run by large companies. I've had less experience with non-profit ownership but have had extensive experience at reporting on non-profits and at reviewing non-profit performance through United Way board positions. Being non-profit does not necessarily insure holiness when it comes to journalism, or any other enterprise, as a number of those in this discussion have pointed out.
Newspaper owners who are greedy for dollars or hungry for political or personal power are bad for journalism. It doesn't matter whether those greedy owners are family companies, big corporations or directors of not for profit boards.
What we should be focused on is how to get owners, no matter who they are, refocused on the value to them, as well as to their communities, of providing quality journalism. In the old days, it was an article of faith at most newspapers that solid reporting was required to make a news organization work, and pay off. Somehow too many owners of all types seem to have forgotten that.
Some companies that now own newspapers operate as if they'd bought a Starbucks franchise, stopped serving coffee because it cost too much and now don't understand why customers are not lining up to buy lukewarm water.
For a while, some of them got away with the cost cutting, because their hot water was the only game in town. It's not likely to be so now. We ought to be talking about how to spread that message and get media owners back into
serving up hot, freshly brewed reporting to their communities. Based on what I heard at MGP this summer, I think lots of communities are getting desperate for the brew.
Kay Berenson