Former Los Angeles Times Editor John Carroll urged editors this week to guard against what he called a “milking” of the industry and increased corporate ownership whose only purpose is to make money, according to Editor and Publisher magazine.

Carroll said the economic rules that govern the newspaper business have changed, partly due to the Internet revolution. But he said there is a “more subtle problem - a crisis of the soul.” The goal of current newspaper owners is “money,” he said. “That’s it.”

“There were times when owners were actually identifiable human beings,” he said. “Unfortunately, the old owners are gone. If they did return, they’d be amazed at what has happened to the very idea of newspapers.”

Carroll talked about editors being afraid to upset readers and give them what they need, instead of what they want.

“A newspaper ought to be willing to offend even its most loyal readers,” he said. “That’s fine if you are making toasters. But a newspaper that gets no complaints is a dead newspaper.”

He said while the average newspaper profit margin remains 19.5 percent, “Gone is the notion that a newspaper must serve and lead, that it has an obligation to its community.”

We would add that newspaper and TV news Web sites are so slow and clunky because of the profit motive, which is another reason readers are turning to independent news sites that load much faster. They are also turning to online producers who track down alternative sources of information and refuse to run corporate and administration PR without at least bringing some skepticism to the coverage.

Old fashioned news folks do not understand blogs, so they mostly bash them. So we bash back.

We would love nothing more than to see newspapers all agree to drop their demands for such a high return on investment and get back to their Constitutional mission of watchdogging government. If they did that, they would see high praise come from the blogosphere.

Newspapers were granted special rights under the First Amendment for a reason. If they abandon that mission, they no longer deserve special rights - and this includes their online versions as well as the print edition.

The malleable public loves its local newscasters and say they turn to them more than any other news source.

Most of that dependency, however, is due to sensational weather coverage, which keeps little old ladies glued to the screen every time an April shower is on the way. It also includes ad nauseum local sports coverage, which now even includes a beat to cover cheerleading competitions as if that was its own sport.

In recent years, local news teams have added “faith” correspondent reports to cover church and religious news. And local corporate news outlets cover business news in a way that makes the chamber of commerce proud.

Now we know how they are doing it on the cheap.

Video News Releases and payments to news stations for product placement in a story are at the heart of a new round of inquiries into commercial influences on broadcast TV, this time focusing on local newscasters, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

What is new is the scope of their usage, according to a study conducted by the Center for Media and Democracy.

If you are reading this, you must be one of the “bright” souls who do not want to be brainwashed by the corporate BS. Do your family a favor. Tell someone else about this trend and help sidetrack the corporate PR that passes for news.

Microsoft is celebrating the return of the legendary New Orleans Jazz and Heritage musical event - which starts this weekend - by bringing select performances into homes around the globe April 28–30 and May 5–7, according to the JazzFest 2006 Web site.

MSN has entered into an agreement with the 2006 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to be the exclusive webcast provider of the first Jazz Fest following the catastrophic events of Hurricane Katrina and will donate all the advertising proceeds to benefit New Orleans Katrina Relief efforts.

The webcast is scheduled to include concert performances by globally popular artists such as Jimmy Buffett, Dave Matthews Band, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, as well as New Orleans music legends including Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas and Buckwheat Zydeco, and more artists to be announced. Viewers can tune in to the festival coverage at msnvideo.com/jazzfest.

The Ruffner Mountain Nature Center near Birmingham, Alabama, will hold its annual Earthfest musical celebration Saturday April 29 from 2-5 p.m. to honor the 36th anniversary of Earth Day. Donations are encouraged. The same day, there will be a wine and cheese sunset hike to Hawk’s View Overlook. It’s a moderate, mile and half hike for adults only, no pets. Reservations are required, along with a $10 fee for members, $15 for non-members.

For more information, visit the group’s Web site at RuffnerMountain.Org.