Corporate welfare for a newspaper?

Amusing. A Gannett newspaper editor in Florida — with blood on his hands from the layoff of 14 employees — tries to justify taking $105,000 in taxpayer-financed corporate welfare for startup of some new digital media jobs in his building.

I’m a skeptic about corporate welfare generally. But a taxpayer dole for information companies? That’s just a bad idea.

UPDATE: Jim Hopkins at Gannett Blog reminds how such taxpayer-bribery-induced jobs can be easy-come, easy-go.

If the company has a viable business model, how about paying its own startup costs? The free market cheerleaders really don’t want a free market.