In fact, government funding for journalism is common in Canada, Europe and Australia, where the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) is funded and owned by the government. The BBC is also primarily financed through a television license fee collected by the British government.

That said, relevant rules have been put in place in these countries to keep the editorial independence of these public or government funded news outlets.

With so many news organizations being forced to downsize or close in the current economic climate, the problem now seems not so much where the money comes from, but whether news organizations that uphold high standards rather than treating journalism as entertainment can continue to keep people informed.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced her disappointment at many private US news organizations in March when she praised Qatar-based news outlet Al-Jazeera.

"Like it or hate it, it is really effective In fact, viewership of Al-Jazeera is going up in the United States because it is real news.

"You may not agree with it, but you feel like you're getting real news around the clock instead of a million commercials and, you know, arguments between talking heads."

This week when Clinton and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner meet their Chinese counterparts for the third round of Strategic & Economic Dialogue (S&ED) in Washington, they will have to deal with the unrealistic private-media-fueled expectations of the US public and Congress.

Many in the US still believe that yuan appreciation is a panacea for all of the US' economic woes, from the trade deficit to unemployment and national debt.

That shows how important it is to fund responsible news organizations in order to keep the public well informed. That should include more funding from the government.

The author is deputy editor of China Daily US edition. E-mail: chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/10/2011 page8)