Most weekly newspapers make heavy use of the mail, so they fought hard against recent increases in postal rates and other regulations that make them pay more. Now their publishers are feeling the impact in their newsrooms, and are beginning to sell their papers, Max Heath, a vice president of Landmark Community Newspapers Inc., testified this week before the House subcommittee that oversees the U.S. Postal Service.
The National Newspaper Association, the weeklies' lobby, reports, "Heath told Subcommittee Chairman Danny Davis, D-Ill., and members of the subcommittee that NNA's surveys of members indicated that most are trying to absorb the increase. But he provided the story of a Missouri husband-and-wife publishing team, owners of the Vandalia Leader, who sold their paper this year, citing poor postal service and rising costs as one reason they were giving up. Postal rates to readers within a newspaper's publication county rose 20-25 percent, Heath said, and were based upon Postal Service costing data that NNA considered flawed."
NNA says, "The increased postal costs will cut into newsroom budgets and cause higher subscription prices for readers at a time when newspapers are trying to retain readers." The Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia titled its hearing, "Will Increased Postal Rates Put Mailers Out of Business?" Health testified that the increase "has weakened (newspapers). Without your continued vigilance and the support of the Postal Service and the Postal Regulatory Commission, the next time you ask the question, we may not be here to answer." (Read more)
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