The National Newspaper Association, representing nearly 2,300 community newspapers and their executives, last week filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia Circuit of the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision to permit special postage discounts for Valassis Direct Mail Inc.
The discounts of 22 to 34 percent of standard pricing were created by the U.S. Postal Service as part of a negotiated service agreement intended to increase direct mail by attracting customary newspaper advertisers, primarily those that appear in weekend insert packages.
The newspaper industry mounted vigorous protests against the deal at the PRC, but lost in a 4-1 decision by the commissioners who said in their opinion that they believed the postal service should compete against newspapers.
NNA President Reed Anfinson, publisher of the Swift County Monitor-News, said the community newspaper industry finds the concept of a federal enterprise setting out intentionally to weaken newspapers objectionable.
“Above and beyond the harm to local newspapers that this deal will create, the notion that the postal service should set its sights on taking away newspaper advertising is shocking to many of us who have traditionally seen the postal service as our delivery partner,” Anfinson said. “We made our case to the PRC and found that its decision did not address the effects of the discount on small newspapers that compete with Valassis at all. It is unusual for NNA to litigate in federal court, but in this case, it was a step we had to take.”
