Help save small print media!
Why am I just hearing about this?
Last year Time Warner submitted a new postage plan for periodicals to the Postal Rate Commission that set up a complicated rate hike that has raised the cost of postage for small-circulation magazines by 20-30%. That represents millions of dollars of costs those publications won’t be able to pay. Soon, the only magazines you may be able to subscribe to or buy will be the pablum produced by Time Warner, Conde Naste, and a handful of other media conglomerates. Here’s why:
According to a May op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times by Teresa Stack and Jack Fowler, when the United States Postal Service originally proposed the postage increase, it was supposed to be a 12-percent hike for all publications. But, that proposal was abandoned, and in its place, a proposal drafted by the largest magazine publisher in the country, Time Warner, was pushed through. By giving preference to higher-weighted items and bulk mail, the new rate system is expected to raise the cost for large publications slightly while piling on increases to the small publications. Some estimates from McGraw-Hill even estimate that it could increase postage for small magazines by as much as 30 percent. But because the new system is so confusing, no one is certain.
If you care about any of these publications, or if you simply recognize that our society will be stronger with more ideas and voices in circulation, take a second to send that message to Congress. Apparently Congress will hold a hearing on this rate hike tomorrow (Tuesday), so do it now.
I’ll get off my soapbox now, thanks.
[tags]media, conglomeration[/tags]
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