Washington, D.C., partner Bruce Sanford, who has been described by American Journalism Review as one of the most accomplished press lawyers in the nation, authored an article, "Revamped Legal Structure Is Key To the Future of Journalism," which was published in the July 2010 edition of Speaking Freely, a joint publication of The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression in Charlottesville, Va., and The Media Institute in Arlington, Va.
According to Sanford, "Journalism's struggle to find a way to prosper financially on the Internet has NOT GIVEN appropriate consideration to how Washington's laws have defined the economics of the communications business. Indeed, the anxiety over the Internet's impact on the business model for journalism ignores the underlying legal rules and public policy that structure any business on the Web."
Sanford continues: "While the Internet companies were busy building the legal foundation for their businesses, media companies were focused on transitioning their content to new platforms. They did not receive the same governmental help that the fledgling technology companies did. Indeed, media companies have been hampered by clearly anachronistic cross-ownership restrictions that remain in effect. The cross-ownership rules may end up outlasting newspapers themselves."
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