Stephen Bates at Slate suggests a new business model for the faltering newspaper industry: declare itself a religion. Although he refers to this idea as “a modest proposal,” it is far less obviously satirical than the Jonathan Swift essay those words reference.

The media covers politics with all the objectivity of a missionary describing his faith, and they treated the election and inauguration of President Obama with the sort of dispassion you’d expect of disciples who just witnessed someone rise from the dead.

Our press has been a religion for years. They might as well admit it now so they can claim the tax breaks.