[NOW Actions] Stop the Postal Rate Hike for Your Favorite Magazines

Support NOW's Work |	May 25, 2007	| Tell a Friend

All NOW Actions More about NOW's work on media issues		Stop the Post Office Rate Hikes! Have you been to the post office lately? Notice that the price of stamps went up, again? Well, if you thought two cents was bad, how about if the price had gone up a whole 41%? That's the kind of increase that some small publications will face if the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) goes ahead with a proposed rate hike for periodicals. This will likely affect a publication you read, including NOW's National NOW Times, Ms. Magazine, Mother Jones, Bust, Bitch, and others. Take Action: Write to your representative in the House today! The PRC recently accepted an extraordinarily complicated plan for postal rates submitted by media giant Time Warner (download a PDF of the decision) while rejecting a plan offered by the U.S. Postal Service that would have created an equitable increase of rates for all publishers. The plan unfairly burdens smaller publishers with higher postage rates while locking in special privileges for bigger media companies. This leaves small publications at significant risk of going out of business due to the burden of the higher rates. Although there was a formal review and comment process, the matter was so complicated and unreported that the general public played no role whatsoever, and publications that could not afford significant lobbying and lawyer fees could not effectively participate. Many small publications that are owned and operated by women are at risk -- including NOW's National NOW Times, Ms. Magazine, Mother Jones, Bust, Bitch, and more. This is the latest, boldest move toward abandoning public service priorities that support low-advertising, political speech, and instead establishing a system that favors ad-heavy magazines like People and Cosmopolitan. Take Action: Write to your representative in the House today! It is imperative that Congress step up to protect the postal subsidy for small, women-run publications! Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), chair of the House subcommittee that oversees postal rates, has agreed to hold a congressional hearing before the potentially disastrous Time Warner plan goes into effect. We need to tell Congress that they must intervene quickly to see that the July 15 rate hike does not severely punish countless small and medium-sized publications, possibly driving hundreds out of business. The Postal Service should not be forced to use its monopoly power to favor the largest publishers at the expense of smaller ones. Take Action: Write to your representative in the House today!
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