April 18, 2007
Post Office Sides with Time Warner Against Free Speech
Whether you're left, right or independent, PAY ATTENTION:
Earlier this year, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) rejected a postal rate increase plan offered by the U.S. Postal Service. Instead they opted to implement a complicated plan submitted by media giant Time Warner. (Click here for a timeline)A lot of your favorite ideological websites are outgrowths of the smaller mags that are being affected: National Review has The Corner, The New Republic has The Plank, for instance. If you want to let the Post Office know that you disagree with this move, SIGN THE PETITION.Under the original plan, all publishers would have a mostly equal increase (approx. 12 percent) in the cost for mailing their publications. The Time Warner plan overturned this level playing field to favor large, ad-heavy magazines like People at the expense of smaller publications like In These Times and The American Spectator. It penalizes thousands of small- to medium-sized outlets with disproportionately higher rates while locking in privileges for bigger companies.
As someone who probably has too many subscrptions to magazines both large (Time, SI) and small (Mother Jones, Volleyball), Time Warner is way out of line.
It's not always about the liberal media vs. the conservative media. It's often about big corporate media vs. small independent media. And if the big corporations win this one, you know they'll be trying to impose their hegemony across the Internet.