Postal Subsidy

The United States Postal Service (USPS), birthed by the founding fathers in July 1775, was tasked to help ensure the success of the democracy with a free exchange of news, ideas and opinions. In 1792, Congress passed the first major postal law, giving newspapers exceedingly low rates, and in some cases allowing the news of the day to travel to its destination for free.

Nearly 250 years later, the USPS appears to be suppressing the free press with oppressive postal rates that burden an already taxed industry. Postage for newspapers skyrocketed by 24 percent in 2021. In 2023 the USPS upped postage for the Newspapers by another eight percent. That’s a total increase by nearly one third over the last four years.

To borrow a line from a Seattle Times editorial, it’s outrageous that the Postal Service, which was created to support the free press, is helping to kill it. It is time for Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission to step in and give relief for newspapers by reducing the postal rate for newspapers.

Read or listen to the challenges and solutions to newspaper sustainability in this speech by Seattle Times Publisher/CEO Frank Blethen. Blethen spoke to members of the European Union in Brussels in 2023.