As Americans across the country rally today against heavy tax burdens and the prospect of more, it’s a good time to tell them about the hit they will feel in their pocketbooks if media “reformers” convince the government it needs to “save journalism.”

Why create content when you can build a profitable Internet business by redistributing the creative wealth of others? It worked for Google, and now it’s working for the video portal Hulu, too. But the future for the studios looks as potentially bleak as the present is for news organizations once television viewers move online.

Government subsidies of journalism are such a bad idea that news executives who fear their businesses may not exist 10 years from now still don’t want the money. The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism put the question of government-subsidized journalism to news executives, and most of them voiced serious reservations about the idea.

James V. DeLong, an expert in intellectual property and regulatory policy, has joined the Digital Society team as a visiting fellow. DeLong will focus on how IP law and regulations can be adapted to the service of creativity and innovation in the Internet era.

A federal court unsealed documents in Viacom’s copyright-infringement lawsuit against YouTube, and Viacom posted the documents, including revealing internal e-mails, to its Web site. Digital Society is reviewing the documents for insights into YouTube’s business practices and its attitudes about copyright law and online video content.

Google was for government regulation of broadband before it was against it. That’s the only conclusion to reach after reading the Internet firm’s joint FCC filing with the Media Access Project and Dish Network earlier this month, and its joint Wall Street Journal op-ed with Verizon yesterday.

The words “we were wrong” apparently are not in the vocabulary at Free Press and Public Knowledge. The groups say Sprint is blocking text messages for Haiti earthquake relief, but the wireless carrier is just following procedures designed to protect its customers from phony charities. The manufactured controversy has exposed the two faces of the “public interest” groups.

Last week in Washington, Andrew Keen of Arts + Labs interviewed Progress and Freedom Foundation president Adam Thierer about the “free culture” movement. He tackled three basic questions: 1) What is free culture? 2) Who is pushing the idea? 3) What is the content solution in the digital age?

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting yesterday announced that it will start funding regional reporting projects known as local journalism centers. It’s the opening shot in the foolhardy revolutionary war to put the news business in the hands of government.

Verizon executive Tom Tauke on Wednesday made the compelling case that the Internet is a competitive, vibrant and expanding ecosystem thanks to the hands-off regulatory approach implemented by the Clinton and Bush administrations, and public officials need to stop trying to cram the Web into a telecommunications box that is nearly a century old. He urged changes aimed at “flexible, adaptive oversight.”