This week’s issue of the Independent includes our annual statement of ownership, management, and circulation (see page A19), which the U.S. Postal Service requires of all periodicals that are delivered through the mail. The statement goes to the postal authorities and, for weekly newspapers like ours, must be published in print during the month of October every year, with details about who owns and runs the publication along with the latest figures for how many copies get printed and distributed.
The backstory behind this document is revealing. Since the founding of the United States, newspapers — especially local ones — have gotten preferred treatment from the Postal Service. The founders understood that a well-informed citizenry was essential for the proper functioning of government, and they established the principle that newspapers should be delivered through the mail at very low rates.
The strategy worked. In 1783, there were 43 newspapers in print in the new United States, according to the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. By 1814, there were 346 newspapers. The French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville was amazed at the success of the American experiment in democracy and observed that the vitality of the young nation’s newspapers was an important element of that success.
In 1851, Congress provided that newspapers would be delivered free within the county where they were published — a policy that lasted until the mid-20th century. By 1900, there were about 12,000 community newspapers published in the U.S. Almost every town of any size had its own paper, and in many places rival publications competed for readers and advertisers. Reporters in small towns and cities made local government more accountable.
The rates have gone up, but newspapers still get an in-county discount. We pay about 20 cents to mail a copy of the Indie to a subscriber in Barnstable County. Outside the county, it costs an average of 80 cents a copy. (That’s why we have to charge more for out-of-county subscriptions.)
To qualify for these relatively low rates, periodicals must follow the rules. They have to have a certain amount of editorial content — actual news — not just advertising. (Publishers pay a higher postage rate for the advertising portion of the paper.) They have to be paid for by actual subscribers — not given away for free or almost for free. And they have to be transparent about who operates the publication and who owns it, in that required statement each October.
Much has been said in recent years about the crisis in local journalism and how news deserts have weakened our democratic institutions and civic life. Mismanagement of the Postal Service is an important part of that story. Mailing costs for newspapers have gone up 30 percent since 2021, while timely delivery has deteriorated. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed by Donald Trump, has promoted policies like prioritizing package deliveries over periodicals that amount to what one editorial writer in Minnesota called a “war on local newspapers.”
The Postal Service should be rededicated to its historical mission of strengthening a free press. Louis DeJoy should be returned to sender.
