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Pravda here we come!
11/09/09 10:09 PM PST
Via Jim Geraghty, I see the state of New Hampshire has decided it's wise to finance a local newspaper:
The state of New Hampshire is guaranteeing part of a loan to the new owner of the Claremont Eagle Times newspaper.
Last Wednesday New Hampshire’s Executive Council approved without debate the "working capital loan guarantee," which will be administered by the state’s Business Finance Authority.
The Valley News of Lebanon says the authority and the state would be liable for $187,500 of a $250,000 loan from the Connecticut River Bank to the paper’s owner, Eagle Printing.
The story of this highly questionable arrangement was broken on the blog of a former Claremont city councilor. They ask the relevant question:
“So which government officials helped broker the loan guarantee for the Eagle Times?,” wrote former Claremont City Councilor Jim Sullivan, who first reported the deal on his blog, The Sullivan Report. “Because the New Eagle Times is now beholden to government officials for what appears to be crucial financing, this could prove to be a conflict of interest for the newspaper.”
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