One of my friends forwarded this to me yesterday. I thought it was an interesting discussion that warranted some further inquiry.

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Dear friend, relative, or acquaintance of Bob McChesney,

The news media are covering the tragic murders in Virginia this morning, and as they do an
extraordinarily significant story is slipping through the cracks.

On very rare occasions I send a message to everyone in my email address book on an issue
that I find of staggering importance and urgency. (My address book includes pretty much
everyone who emails me in one form or another, and I apologize if you get this message more
than once.) This is one of those times.

There is a major crisis in our media taking place right now; it is getting almost no
attention and unless we act very soon the consequences for our society could well be
disastrous. And it will only take place because it is being done without any public
awareness or participation; it goes directly against the very foundations of freedom of the
press in the entirety of American history.

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 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.

It was postal policy that converted the free press clause in the First Amendment from an
abstract principle into a living breathing reality for Americans. And it has served that
role throughout our history.

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 percent. Some of the largest circulation magazines
will face hikes of less than 10 percent.

The new rates, which go into effect on July 15, 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. These are the magazines that provide much of the content
on Common Dreams. We desperately need them.

What the Post Office is planning to do now, in the dark of night, is implement a rate
structure that gives the best prices to the biggest publishers, hence letting them lock in
their market position and lessen the threat of any new competition. The new rates could
make it almost impossible to launch a new magazine, unless it is spawned by a huge
conglomerate.

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 corruption and sleaziness of this process is difficult to exaggerate. As one lawyer who
works for a large magazine publisher admits, ^SIt takes a publishing company several
hundred thousand dollars to even participate in these rate cases. Some large corporations
spend millions to influence these rates.^T Little guys, and the general public who depend
upon these magazines, are not at the table when the deal is being made.

The genius of the postal rate structure over the past 215 years was that it did not favor 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. And it is about having competitive media markets that benefit all
Americans. This reform will have disastrous effects for all small and mid-sized
publications, be they on politics, music, sports or gardening.

This process was conducted with such little publicity and pitched only at the dominant
players that we only learned about it a few weeks ago and it is very late in the game. But
there is something you can do. Please 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.

I know many of you are connected to publications that go through the mail, or libraries and
bookstores that pay for subscriptions to magazines and periodicals. If you fall in these
categories, it is imperative you get everyone connected to your magazine or operation to go
to www.stoppostalratehikes.com.

We do not have a moment to lose. If everyone who reads this email responds at
www.stoppostalratehikes.com, and then sends it along to their friends urging them to do the
same, we can win. If there is one thing we have learned at Free Press over the past few
years, it is that if enough people raise hell, we can force politicians to do the right
thing. This is a time for serious hell-raising.

And to my friends from outside the United States, I apologize for cluttering your inbox. If
you read this far, we can use your moral support.

From the bottom of my heart, thanks.

Bob

Robert W. McChesney
www.mediaproblem.org
www.freepress.net
Department of Communication
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign