One of the lessons of Mancur Olson's 'Logic of Collective Action' is that of 'forgotten groups' - the fate of those that don't have the resources to get stuck into a battle of wills over a particular area of public policy.
You can have a policy area in which there are a number of options. At either end of the argument, big rivals will have their preferred solutions.
In the middle, there is one option that isn't massively attractive to any powerful lobby, but it is one that is the 'least worst' one on offer. It's often one that is a bit complicated to grasp, and one that commercial lobbies hate disproportionately. It may have lots of potential supporters, but they are dispersed and don't feel too strongly about it.
It's a classic example of the way that competing interests create a sub-optimal outcome.
All over the world, advertising revenues are tumbling, and the impact upon commercial broadcasters in the UK is plain to see. At the same time, the BBC has never looked as timid as it does today. In recent months, it has shown itself to be no more capable of defending itself from it's rivals than Jermain Taylor could in his final round against the mighty Carl Froch.
All over the world, journalists are being laid off in the perfect storm of recession, disintermediation and converged media. This is a potential disaster for democracy. In a year when we've bailed out banks to the tune of $billions in order to stem a systemic threat to the economy, it seems unlikely that systemic threats to democracy will receive even a tiny fraction of the largesse.
But here's the thing: If we wanted to raise £210 million to spend on public service content every year, it could be done almost effortlessly and painlessly. All that we would need to do is to put a 1% levy on mobile phone operators (who would, in turn, make a good deal morein return streaming the resulting content). There are plenty of other levies that could also be applied in a way that the public would barely notice or care about.
It's a simple solution that could save thousands of journalists' jobs and ensure that the quality and quantity of reporting can improve.
Commercial broadcasters would fight it, of course, as would mobile phone companies. But as far as I can see, absolutely no other options have been advanced apart from a general view that public service broadcasting should just give up the ghost and die.
Media journalists are largely ignoring it because they are resigned to the political reality that a good idea can be killed by commercial lobbyists, and no politician is going to pick up an idea that doesn't have any vocal, principled support from the commentariat. It's only backers are two small trades unions and a handful of committed engaged consumer lobbies.
It's an absolute no-brainer that is being ignored for reasons that Mancur Olson would have understood. But the failure to break out of this trap is one that neither politicians, regulators or commentators should be forgiven for.
The details are here. Spread the word, willya?
About the author: Paul is a London-based blogger with a mixed track-record over at Never Trust a Hippy and a few other places. He usually writes about representative democracy and decentralisation. Follow him at www.twitter.com/paul0evans if you usually do that kind of thing. Read more from this author