Inserts law needs changing

Publishers Auxiliary had almost a full page article written by Postal Consultant Max Heath in its April 2014 issue that made many good points. Max explained the postal law concerning the 75 percent advertising rule which prohibits Periodicals from running more than 75 percent advertising percentage in more than half the issues published in a 12-month period.

Let me say upfront that Mr. Heath probably knows more about postal regulations and rules than the Postmaster General does. The rule regarding the inserts was made years ago when there were few or no inserts placed in paid circulation newspapers. The rule was a good one way back then because a good community newspaper did not come close to breaking the rule.

The situation today is entirely different. When an insert is measured as advertising, if a newspaper has several inserts each week it is near impossible to abide by this postal law that was made before many of us were even born.

The bottom line is that the law needs changing as soon as possible, and the National Newspaper Association, which is largely supported by membership dues of many papers across the United States, should make that a top priority. To be forced to run four to six pages more than you should several weeks in the year to stay in compliance with this long outdated law is very expensive.

Newspapers pay more postage due to the extra weight of editions that carry several inserts and postage costs of mailing papers continue to increase almost annually, as does the cost of stamps that all newspapers use when mailing their monthly statements, but it seems that none of this is even considered.

Max stated the law in his article, “General publications primarily designed for advertising purposes do not qualify for Periodicals mailing privileges, including publications that contain more than 75 percent advertising in more than half of the issues published during any 12-month period.”

NNA Chief Executive Officer Tonda Rush said, “The loss of Periodicals privileges would mean immediate rate increases for newspapers that would then have to be mailed at Standard rates. It could also mean a day or more of delay in service, as Standard mail is supposed to be deferrable service when mail volume is high. For many newspapers it also could lead to the loss of public notice advertising because many state statues required a Periodicals’ permit for official newspaper eligibility. So the consequences of losing a permit can be severe even life threatening.”

Max went on to point out in the article that despite the strong language of the law, postal officials over the years had repeatedly assured him that they do not want to take a Periodicals’ permit away from anyone if they can avoid it. They are just charged with enforcing the rules that come to their attention. This statement tells me that newspapers who have been charged with violating the rule should not blame their local postmaster because they certainly had nothing to do with making the long outdated law.

Mr. Heath gives some reasons in the article why more newspapers are being caught for breaking the postal law. He points out that there are several reasons, one of them being a competitor of a newspaper reporting them. Another reason he gives is that some advertisers go from ROP to preprints to better control color and print quality.

Despite NNA efforts, Max says they have been unable to get the rule modified for paid publications as they did for Requester Periodicals

The National Newspaper Association has served community newspapers well for many years and they will continue to do that. We need their help now in a very big way because once again, this law that was made many years ago should be changed to one that community newspapers can sensibly abide by. NNA needs to make this a No. 1 priority now.

HHJ News