Last week, I suggested we tax advertising on local news, to pay for the law enforcement and crime costs that the local news media imposes on society, via their glorification of crime and criminal justice system. Stamp taxes aren’t a popular thing, ever since the British imposed it on the American colonies, but I think it may be a necessary thing to reduce crime and rein in the abuse of the first amendment by commercial media.

It’s well documented that the news media should not cover suicide, unless it’s a particularly suicide of a public figure or happens in a public place that impacts a large number of people — like somebody blowing off their head in a community gathering. But even there the news media treads carefully. But I have to wonder if those guidelines mostly exist, because advertisers don’t get the same value out of suicide coverage that they get out of crime. Suicide isn’t particularly scary to people, as only the suicidal individual dies. Without fear, there isn’t the profits.