[cr-india] WACC: U.S. postal rate hike threatens small publications

[WACC]

Philip Lee, WACC, Canada. 17 April 2007.

The U.S. Post Office is in the process of implementing a radical
reformulation of its rates for magazines, such that smaller periodicals
will be hit with a much larger increase than the largest magazines.

Because the Post Office is a monopoly, and because magazines must use it,
the postal rates always have been skewed to make it cheaper for smaller
publications to get launched and to survive. The whole idea has been to use
the postal rates to keep publishing as competitive and wide open as
possible.

This bedrock principle was put in place by James Madison and Thomas
Jefferson. They considered it mandatory to create the press system, the
Fourth Estate necessary for self-government.

What the Post Office is now proposing goes directly against 215 years of
postal policy. The Post Office is in the process of implementing a radical
reformulation of its mailing rates for magazines. Under the plan, smaller
periodicals will be hit with a much larger increase than the big magazines,
as much as 30%. Some of the largest circulation magazines will face hikes
of less than 10%

The new rates, which go into effect on July 15, 2007, were developed with
no public involvement or congressional oversight, and the increased costs
could damage hundreds, even thousands, of smaller publications, possibly
putting many out of business. This includes nearly every political journal
in the nation. These are the magazines that often provide the most original
journalism and analysis.

Not surprisingly, the new scheme was drafted by Time Warner, the largest
magazine publisher in the nation. All evidence available suggests the
bureaucrats responsible have never considered the implications of their
draconian reforms for small and independent publishers, or for citizens who
depend upon a free press.

The genius of the postal rate structure over the past 215 years was that it
did not favour a particular viewpoint; it simply made it easier for smaller
magazines to be launched and to survive. That is why the publications
opposing the secretive Post Office rate hikes cross the political spectrum.
This is not a left-wing issue or a right-wing issue, it is a democracy
issue.

There is no time to lose. Go to www.stoppostalratehikes.com and sign the
letter to the Postal Board protesting the new rate system and demanding a
congressional hearing before any radical changes are made. The deadline for
comments is April 23.

If you are connected to publications that go through the mail, or libraries
and bookstores that pay for subscriptions to magazines and periodicals, go
to www.stoppostalratehikes.com

WACC advocates democratization of the media and freedom of expression. This
move by the U.S. Post Office runs counter to both.


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