Please Mr. Postman

Small, independently owned publications such as No Depression and Punk Planet could face financial ruin if a proposed rate hike goes through July 15th.

The United States Postal Service had originally recommended modest, across-the-board increases, but the Postal Regulatory Commission instead chose to implement a complex plan submitted by Time Warner – the nation’s largest magazine publisher, whose holdings include Time, People, Fortune, and In Style. While small publications will see hikes from 15 to 30 percent, some larger ones will face increases of less than 10 percent.

“It has the effect of making it much more expensive for small publishers to pay for postage,” says University Of Illinois communications professor Robert McChesney, who is also president and co-founder of the media reform organization Free Press.

An eclectic assortment of smaller publications have rallied around the issue, including the conservative National Review, the Christian World magazine, and the leftist Nation, which estimates its increase will be 18 percent, or a half-million dollars.

Half of the nonprofit magazine These Times‘ revenue comes from subscriptions, and publisher Tracy Van Slyke estimates their increase will be 20 percent.

“It’s pretty damaging – not only for publications that already exist, but it really raises the financial bar for people to even start new publications,” she says. “The Postal Services was created in a lot of ways for getting journalistic opinions and political ideas out to different parts of the country, and this strikes at the heart of democracy.”

The increase was approved without any public input or debate or congressional oversight – which is unusual for the Postal Service. Since its inception more than 200 years ago, its policy has made it cheaper for smaller publications to get launched and survive in order to ensure a diversity of viewpoints were available to the public. Its federally mandated mission is to “bind the nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people.”

“When you put it into context with all things happening with media consolidation and corporate ownership and cutting journalism staff, you have a real problem as to how people are going to access the news and inform their choices,” says Van Slyke. “It’s cutting right at the heart of the First Amendment.”

Activists on both sides of the aisle are pushing for Congress to hold hearings before the increase is finalized. Chicago-based U.S. Rep. Danny Davis has promised a legislative hearing in Washington, and a Chicago public hearing is tentatively scheduled May 31st; for details contact Davis’ office at (773) 533-7520. To sign a letter protesting the hike, go to www.stoppostalratehikes.com. For more on related issues, visit www.freepress.net.

LOW POWER FM ROCKS WESTERN LAKE COUNTY: Round Lake Heights’ WRLR-FM (98.3) boasts a wacky morning show, play-by-play broadcasts of high school sporting events, and even live election coverage.

But the low-power FM (LPFM) station also broadcasts a heavy metal show, Sunday mass, a local music program called “J Street Radio,” and “The Brown Box Show,” which is hosted by a visually impaired man and a 13-year-old and gets its name from the box in which they carry in the music for their show. The all-volunteer station has no record library, but its old village hall headquarters includes a jail cell, where valuable equipment is stored.

“There’s a real diversity of shows,” says “Dawn Patrol” host Tom Stahler, who studied radio in college but spent the past 20 years working in marketing. “More than anything, it reminds me of the heart that radio used to have when it was more a part of the community and less of a corporate entity.”

The 98-watt low-power community radio station exists because of the Low Power Radio Act Of 2000, part of an effort to undo some of the damage done by the Telecom-munications Act Of 1996, which sparked a wave of consolidation that continues to this day. Through six months in 2000, during 5 five-day periods, each for a different region, the Federal Communications Commission allowed community groups to apply for licenses for noncommercial radio stations of 100 watts or less that would provide information that was previously unavailable; most went to religious organizations that were organized and ready to go. WRLR’s funding comes from grants and underwriting provided by companies within the listening area, which covers 20 miles in Lake County and eastern McHenry County

Since it went on air in 2005, it has been the only LPFM station in the state that’s not affiliated with a religious organization.

Program director and show host Dave Sanocki only occasionally hears complaints – usually about the music. “I explain to people that it’s everybody in the community on the radio, and that they should do a show if their tastes aren’t being met.”

He continues, “On any given day, it’s a wonderful mix of people – a stew of different personalities, musical tastes, and services to the community. The radio station provides a connection in the community amongst people that ordinarily wouldn’t connect. In a dinky little town like Round Lake, all these different people have the opportunity to become broadcasters.”

The station streams live at www.wrlr.fm. Musicians may send promo kits to WRLR, J Street Radio, and Metal Mayhem c/o Round Lake Radio, PO Box 98, Round Lake, IL 60073.

– Cara Jepsen

Category: Columns, Media, Monthly