May we turn from the usual U.S. bad guys (the Federal Communications Commission) and take a look at the Postal Regulatory Commission for a moment? They’re responsible for setting postage rates in the United States and they’re into some bad stuff. In an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now, Katrina Vanden Heuvel says that the secrecy of the Postal Regulatory Commission “makes the FCC look like a Vermont commune.” The PRC actually accepted a rate plan from Time Warner (and rejected the one put forth by the U.S. Postal Service) which is going to favour large magazine publishers over small ones. Timeline information is available here.
Says FreePress:
Under the original plan, all publishers would have a mostly equal increase (approx. 12 percent) in the cost for mailing their publications. The Time Warner plan overturned this level playing field to favor large, ad-heavy magazines like People at the expense of smaller publications like In These Times and The American Spectator. It penalizes thousands of small- to medium-sized outlets with disproportionately higher rates while locking in privileges for bigger companies.
The Nation, for example, would be expected to pay $500 000 more per year in postage fees (according to itself). It all goes into effect July 15 unless, of course, we stop it from happening.
Please help tackle this ridiculousness on the FreePress site. Also, have a read through Robert McChesney’s letter to the masses.
If the plans go through, perhaps we Canadians should start looking for facilities to house all the American publishers moving to this side of the border.
Thanks to DD.
-SIO