According to the National Newspaper Association (NNA) a proposed postage increase is set to take effect on January 21, 2024, if approved. When I first read the headline I was not too concerned because the postage rate increases are generally two percent or less.

However, as I read further it was revealed that the postage rate for in-county newspapers would increase by 7.3 percent which is nearly four times the rate that is proposed for first class and the Periodicals rate for out of county (1.9 & 1.59 respectively).

John Galer, Chair of NNA said “It certainly seems as if the Postal Service wants to discourage newspapers from using the mail.”

I completely agree as that is what it looks like. Not sure why they would want to do that to newspapers.

After all we are one of the biggest customers they have and can be counted on weekly. Why would they want to discourage that?

The increase feels very punitive and I expect that the United States Postal Service (USPS) will get pushback on this from subscribers etc.

Obviously this increase will be passed on to the consumer as the increase will more than likely become a reality soon.

The USPS is permitted to increase rates without approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), however, all proposals do get reviewed for illegalities and calculation errors.

With that being said, twice a year postal increases have been part of the plan to allow the USPS to raise rates above inflation.

It’s already insanely expensive to operate a newspaper and these postal increases will not help.

It feels very punitive to say the least.

KEN HARTY is the Publisher of The Daily Iberian and Acadiana Lifestyle. You can reach him at kenh@daily-iberian.com