Allen
05-19-2007, 11:55 AM
Links for sending a letter or signing a petition are at the bottom of the page.
May 18, 2007
Bill Moyers Essay: SOS (https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2007/05/bill_moyers_essay_sos_1.html)
It's time to send an SOS for the least among us — I mean small independent magazines. They are always struggling to survive while making a unique contribution to the conversation of democracy. Magazines like NATIONAL REVIEW, THE AMERICAN PROSPECT, SOJOURNERS, THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, THE NATION, WASHINGTON MONTHLY, MOTHER JONES, IN THESE TIMES, WORLD MAGAZINE, THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY, CHRISTIANITY TODAY, COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW, REASON and many others.
The Internet may be the way of the future, but for today much of what you read on the Web is generated by newspapers and small magazines. They may be devoted to a cause, a party, a worldview, an issue, an idea, or to one eccentric person's vision of what could be, but they nourish the public debate. America wouldn't be the same without them.
Our founding fathers knew this; knew that a low-cost postal incentive was crucial to giving voice to ideas from outside the main tent. So they made sure such publications would get a break in the cost of reaching their readers. That's now in jeopardy. An impending rate hike, worked out by postal regulators, with almost no public input but plenty of corporate lobbying, would reward big publishers like Time Warner, while forcing these smaller periodicals into higher subscription fees, big cutbacks and even bankruptcy.
It's not too late. The postal service is a monopoly, but if its governors, and especially members of Congress, hear from enough citizens, they could have a change of heart. So, liberal or conservative, left or right, libertarian, vegetarian, communitarian or Unitarian, or simply good Samaritan, let's make ourselves heard.
https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/images/MoyersSignature.jpg
https://www2.freepress.net/postal/images/header-760.jpg (https://action.freepress.net/campaign/postal) <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="100%"> <table><tbody><tr><td width="500">
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
-- Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 16, 1787
What's at Stake
Our nation's founders understood the First Amendment would be worth little without a postal system that encouraged broad public participation in America's "marketplace of ideas."
Thomas Jefferson supported this with calls for a postal service that allowed citizens to gain "full information of their affairs," where ideas could "penetrate the whole mass of the people." Along with James Madison, he paved the way for a service that gave smaller political journals a voice. Their solution included low-cost mailing incentives whereby publications could reach as many readers as possible.
Other founders soon came to understand that the press as a political institution needed to be supported through favorable postal rates. President George Washington spoke out for free postage for newspapers through the mail, and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton -- no proponent of government deficit -- conceded that incentives were necessary to spawn a viable press.
The postal policies that resulted have lasted for more than 200 years, spurring a vibrant political culture in the United States. They have eased the entry of diverse political viewpoints into a national discourse often dominated by the largest media organizations.
Our free press did not happen magically; it was built on the foundation of postal policies that encouraged small publications and dissident ideas to spout and flourish. The postal system is based on policies of public service and democratic values.
Time Warner Rewrites History
All of this could change in 2007.
In an unprecedented move, the agency that oversees postal rates in the United States has approved a plan that would unravel much of what the founders accomplished. Earlier this year, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) rejected a postal rate increase plan offered by the U.S. Postal Service. Instead they opted to implement a modified version of an extraordinarily complicated plan submitted by media giant Time Warner. (Click here (https://www.usps.com/ratecase/_pdf/Mar19FINAL.pdf) to read the decision and click here (https://action.freepress.net/freepress/postal_timeline.html) for a timeline).
Although there was a formal review and comment process -- to be fair the PRC did everything by the book -- 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 faced high barriers to effective participation.
Make no mistake about it, this is a public issue. We all lose if the media system loses numerous small publications due to massive postal rate hikes and if it becomes cost prohibitive for new magazines to be launched in the future. This is not an issue that should be determined exclusively by the owners of magazines, with the biggest owners having the loudest voice.
This year's rate increase was somewhat inevitable, as the postal service struggles to meet its costs. The method of rate hikes was hotly contested. Postal rates for magazines are basically a zero sum game. Lower rates for some magazines, and others must pick up the cost. The USPS offered a plan to the postal Commission that featured relatively equitable increases for all magazines. Most magazines were budgeting for a 10-12% increase. The Time Warner plan proposed higher costs for small publishers and discounts for big publishers. The Time Warner plan is so complex that many publications are still unclear what their rate hikes will be if implemented; those smaller publications that have been able to do the math are finding shocking increases on tap, as high as 25-30%.
The Time Warner plan represents another step (albeit a giant step) in the gradual reversal of the Founder's public service principles of supporting democracy through the postal service. It is the latest, largest move towards abandoning these public service priorities and permitting a system that no longer favors low-advertising, political speech -- like In These Times and The American Spectator -- ad-heavy magazines like People and Cosmo. The practical result of this move is not only the decline of a democratic mission, it is also a rate shock for small and medium size magazines even as big publishers are getting a break.
This is a Battle for the Internet, Too
It is ironic that America's first, and arguably most brilliant, media policy is also a crucial policy for keeping the Internet open and vibrant. Much of the material on the websites people visit that covers public affairs is generated by these print publications. Much of the material bloggers address originates in these print publications.
If these publications are forced to slash their editorial budgets -- or even go out of business --to pay the massive postal rate increases brought on by the Time Warner plan it will shrink the range and quality of material available on the Internet.
There is still no clear business model to support quality journalism online, and these print publications provide the resources to pay for the journalists and writers whose material is available in cyberspace. If the print publications do not exist, these stories do not get written. As our friends at National Review have noted, "There would be no NRO [National Review Online] without the print-magazine mothership."
Fight Back: Tell Congress to Act
This year's rate hikes culminate a long period in which the subsidy for small publications has been eroding. It is imperative that Congress, which is ultimately responsible, intervene to protect the postal subsidy for small publications that is the foundation for the free press in the United States.
And Congress must intervene quickly to see that the July 15 rate hike does not have the unintended consequence of severely punishing countless small and medium-sized publications, perhaps driving hundreds out of business.
Congress must now step in to protect smaller media from these unfair rate hikes.
The Postal Service should not be forced to use its monopoly power to favor the largest publishers at the expense of smaller ones. We need to return to the enlightened postal policy that has guided our nation so well for the past 215 years.
Demand a formal and open accounting of why more than 200 years of pro-democracy postal policy was abandoned
Stop The Rate Hikes, Stand Up for Independent Media:
For individuals: Send a Letter to Congress and the Postal Service (https://action.freepress.net/campaign/postal)
For publications: Sign the Letter to the Postal Board of Governors (https://action.freepress.net/campaign/postal_publications)
</td><td valign="top" width="120">
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
https://img.getactivehub.com/images/space.gif (https:///)
<!-- www.hitslink.com/ (https://www.hitslink.com/) web tools statistics hit counter code --><script type="text/javascript">//<![CDATA[ var ns_data,ns_hp,ns_tz,ns_rf,ns_sr,ns_img,ns_pageName; // The pageName variable can be customized if needed ns_pageName=location.pathname; document.cookie='__support_check=1';ns_hp='http'; ns_rf=document.referrer;ns_sr=window.location.search; ns_tz=new Date();if(location.href.substr(0,6).toLowerCase()=='https:') ns_hp='https';ns_data='&an='+escape(navigator.appName)+ '&sr='+escape(ns_sr)+'&ck='+document.cookie.length+ '&rf='+escape(ns_rf)+'&sl='+escape(navigator.systemLanguage)+ '&av='+escape(navigator.appVersion)+'&l='+escape(navigator.language)+ '&pf='+escape(navigator.platform)+'&pg='+escape(ns_pageName); ns_data=ns_data+'&cd='+ screen.colorDepth+'&rs='+escape(screen.width+ ' x '+screen.height)+ '&tz='+ns_tz.getTimezoneOffset()+'&je='+ navigator.javaEnabled(); ns_img=new Image();ns_img.src=ns_hp+'://counter.hitslink.com/statistics.asp'+ '?v=1&s=214&acct=fpgetactive'+ns_data+'&tks='+ns_tz.getTime(); //]]> </script> <!-- End www.hitslink.com/ (https://www.hitslink.com/) statistics web tools hit counter code --><!-- /BOTTOM STUFF --> <!-- t1web1-dawn-8400 -->
May 18, 2007
Bill Moyers Essay: SOS (https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/blog/2007/05/bill_moyers_essay_sos_1.html)
It's time to send an SOS for the least among us — I mean small independent magazines. They are always struggling to survive while making a unique contribution to the conversation of democracy. Magazines like NATIONAL REVIEW, THE AMERICAN PROSPECT, SOJOURNERS, THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE, THE NATION, WASHINGTON MONTHLY, MOTHER JONES, IN THESE TIMES, WORLD MAGAZINE, THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY, CHRISTIANITY TODAY, COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW, REASON and many others.
The Internet may be the way of the future, but for today much of what you read on the Web is generated by newspapers and small magazines. They may be devoted to a cause, a party, a worldview, an issue, an idea, or to one eccentric person's vision of what could be, but they nourish the public debate. America wouldn't be the same without them.
Our founding fathers knew this; knew that a low-cost postal incentive was crucial to giving voice to ideas from outside the main tent. So they made sure such publications would get a break in the cost of reaching their readers. That's now in jeopardy. An impending rate hike, worked out by postal regulators, with almost no public input but plenty of corporate lobbying, would reward big publishers like Time Warner, while forcing these smaller periodicals into higher subscription fees, big cutbacks and even bankruptcy.
It's not too late. The postal service is a monopoly, but if its governors, and especially members of Congress, hear from enough citizens, they could have a change of heart. So, liberal or conservative, left or right, libertarian, vegetarian, communitarian or Unitarian, or simply good Samaritan, let's make ourselves heard.
https://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/images/MoyersSignature.jpg
https://www2.freepress.net/postal/images/header-760.jpg (https://action.freepress.net/campaign/postal) <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td valign="top" width="100%"> <table><tbody><tr><td width="500">
"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
-- Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 16, 1787
What's at Stake
Our nation's founders understood the First Amendment would be worth little without a postal system that encouraged broad public participation in America's "marketplace of ideas."
Thomas Jefferson supported this with calls for a postal service that allowed citizens to gain "full information of their affairs," where ideas could "penetrate the whole mass of the people." Along with James Madison, he paved the way for a service that gave smaller political journals a voice. Their solution included low-cost mailing incentives whereby publications could reach as many readers as possible.
Other founders soon came to understand that the press as a political institution needed to be supported through favorable postal rates. President George Washington spoke out for free postage for newspapers through the mail, and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton -- no proponent of government deficit -- conceded that incentives were necessary to spawn a viable press.
The postal policies that resulted have lasted for more than 200 years, spurring a vibrant political culture in the United States. They have eased the entry of diverse political viewpoints into a national discourse often dominated by the largest media organizations.
Our free press did not happen magically; it was built on the foundation of postal policies that encouraged small publications and dissident ideas to spout and flourish. The postal system is based on policies of public service and democratic values.
Time Warner Rewrites History
All of this could change in 2007.
In an unprecedented move, the agency that oversees postal rates in the United States has approved a plan that would unravel much of what the founders accomplished. Earlier this year, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) rejected a postal rate increase plan offered by the U.S. Postal Service. Instead they opted to implement a modified version of an extraordinarily complicated plan submitted by media giant Time Warner. (Click here (https://www.usps.com/ratecase/_pdf/Mar19FINAL.pdf) to read the decision and click here (https://action.freepress.net/freepress/postal_timeline.html) for a timeline).
Although there was a formal review and comment process -- to be fair the PRC did everything by the book -- 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 faced high barriers to effective participation.
Make no mistake about it, this is a public issue. We all lose if the media system loses numerous small publications due to massive postal rate hikes and if it becomes cost prohibitive for new magazines to be launched in the future. This is not an issue that should be determined exclusively by the owners of magazines, with the biggest owners having the loudest voice.
This year's rate increase was somewhat inevitable, as the postal service struggles to meet its costs. The method of rate hikes was hotly contested. Postal rates for magazines are basically a zero sum game. Lower rates for some magazines, and others must pick up the cost. The USPS offered a plan to the postal Commission that featured relatively equitable increases for all magazines. Most magazines were budgeting for a 10-12% increase. The Time Warner plan proposed higher costs for small publishers and discounts for big publishers. The Time Warner plan is so complex that many publications are still unclear what their rate hikes will be if implemented; those smaller publications that have been able to do the math are finding shocking increases on tap, as high as 25-30%.
The Time Warner plan represents another step (albeit a giant step) in the gradual reversal of the Founder's public service principles of supporting democracy through the postal service. It is the latest, largest move towards abandoning these public service priorities and permitting a system that no longer favors low-advertising, political speech -- like In These Times and The American Spectator -- ad-heavy magazines like People and Cosmo. The practical result of this move is not only the decline of a democratic mission, it is also a rate shock for small and medium size magazines even as big publishers are getting a break.
This is a Battle for the Internet, Too
It is ironic that America's first, and arguably most brilliant, media policy is also a crucial policy for keeping the Internet open and vibrant. Much of the material on the websites people visit that covers public affairs is generated by these print publications. Much of the material bloggers address originates in these print publications.
If these publications are forced to slash their editorial budgets -- or even go out of business --to pay the massive postal rate increases brought on by the Time Warner plan it will shrink the range and quality of material available on the Internet.
There is still no clear business model to support quality journalism online, and these print publications provide the resources to pay for the journalists and writers whose material is available in cyberspace. If the print publications do not exist, these stories do not get written. As our friends at National Review have noted, "There would be no NRO [National Review Online] without the print-magazine mothership."
Fight Back: Tell Congress to Act
This year's rate hikes culminate a long period in which the subsidy for small publications has been eroding. It is imperative that Congress, which is ultimately responsible, intervene to protect the postal subsidy for small publications that is the foundation for the free press in the United States.
And Congress must intervene quickly to see that the July 15 rate hike does not have the unintended consequence of severely punishing countless small and medium-sized publications, perhaps driving hundreds out of business.
Congress must now step in to protect smaller media from these unfair rate hikes.
The Postal Service should not be forced to use its monopoly power to favor the largest publishers at the expense of smaller ones. We need to return to the enlightened postal policy that has guided our nation so well for the past 215 years.
Demand a formal and open accounting of why more than 200 years of pro-democracy postal policy was abandoned
Stop The Rate Hikes, Stand Up for Independent Media:
For individuals: Send a Letter to Congress and the Postal Service (https://action.freepress.net/campaign/postal)
For publications: Sign the Letter to the Postal Board of Governors (https://action.freepress.net/campaign/postal_publications)
</td><td valign="top" width="120">
</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
https://img.getactivehub.com/images/space.gif (https:///)
<!-- www.hitslink.com/ (https://www.hitslink.com/) web tools statistics hit counter code --><script type="text/javascript">//<![CDATA[ var ns_data,ns_hp,ns_tz,ns_rf,ns_sr,ns_img,ns_pageName; // The pageName variable can be customized if needed ns_pageName=location.pathname; document.cookie='__support_check=1';ns_hp='http'; ns_rf=document.referrer;ns_sr=window.location.search; ns_tz=new Date();if(location.href.substr(0,6).toLowerCase()=='https:') ns_hp='https';ns_data='&an='+escape(navigator.appName)+ '&sr='+escape(ns_sr)+'&ck='+document.cookie.length+ '&rf='+escape(ns_rf)+'&sl='+escape(navigator.systemLanguage)+ '&av='+escape(navigator.appVersion)+'&l='+escape(navigator.language)+ '&pf='+escape(navigator.platform)+'&pg='+escape(ns_pageName); ns_data=ns_data+'&cd='+ screen.colorDepth+'&rs='+escape(screen.width+ ' x '+screen.height)+ '&tz='+ns_tz.getTimezoneOffset()+'&je='+ navigator.javaEnabled(); ns_img=new Image();ns_img.src=ns_hp+'://counter.hitslink.com/statistics.asp'+ '?v=1&s=214&acct=fpgetactive'+ns_data+'&tks='+ns_tz.getTime(); //]]> </script> <!-- End www.hitslink.com/ (https://www.hitslink.com/) statistics web tools hit counter code --><!-- /BOTTOM STUFF --> <!-- t1web1-dawn-8400 -->