Postal rate hike to punish small magazines

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On July 15 the U.S. Postal Service will hike second class mailing rates in a way that will clobber small magazines. The Boston Globe editorialized against this increase in April saying:

“(It) is based on a plan devised by Time Warner, the mammoth publisher of more than 100 magazines . . . (that) is generally considered fair to the kind of large-circulation magazines that Time Warner publishes. But smaller magazines say that this plan would force them to pay a higher percentage increase than large magazines. More troubling is the fact that the Postal Service itself proposed a different plan that would have spread the increases more evenly, so that small publications would have paid less.”

This is yet another blow to small media — in this case alternative print magazines — at a time when the print news industry is under stress. There is still some hope of getting Congress to roll back the increase. Find out more.

Meanwhile the media elite recently finished what has become a trendy annual gathering at Idaho’s Sun Valley that is hosted by Allen & Co.

Who? That’s what I said until I found this July 4 article by reporter Trevor Schubert of the Idaho Mountain Express:

“Allen & Co., is less a household name . . .  more by design than chance. . . . (It) has only one office located a few blocks from Central Park in Manhattan, employs roughly 200 people, does not have a Web site, does not issue press releases, prohibits media from attending conference presentations and has no research department . . .  it makes up for (this) by quietly forging old-fashioned, long-lasting relationships. This is where the conference at Sun Valley comes into play.”

So as they while away the hours, conferring with the flowers, and consulting with the rain, the select invitees — this year, we are told in retrospect — the noteworthy guests were the founders of Joost (pronounced juiced) who have plans to deliver television shows over the Internet.

Just in time, too. The rabbit ears on my TV just broke.

Thanks to Deep Cuz for spotting the stories on this — and elevating us above the masses who still don’t know about Allen & Co.