| Show newspapers fe feel 61 pinch of bulk mailing the extent to which publishers of newspapers in small email towns and cities across the nation are feeling the pinch of competition being directed against them t hein by the bulk milling mailing liberalization order of the post poet office department was revealed in answers to a questionnaire sent out by the national editorial association Acco according to NEA general manager don eck there were questionnaires mailed to newspapers in 48 states and replies were received from 2466 a return of 34 per cent replies received indicated a pot enolal industry wide loss ot of 31 will be sustained per year if the bulk mailing order is continued in effect affect this is about 10 P percent ercene of the estimated total indus industry try advertising volume the industry as a whole has suffered the impact of a loss in advertising revenue so tar far according to the answers of the publishers answering the questionnaire 2097 sad they were definitely opposed to the bulk malling mailing mailhe order as liberalized by t the he post office the other replies ranged from those who had no opinion to those who were indifferent to those ln in favor of the order results of this questionnaire were presented to postmaster general summerfield in washington dec 3 by NEA president ed al anderson brevard N C transylvania times and NEA L legis tive chairman bernard E B esters houlton Hoult ou maine blaine pioneer times they appealed to him for fe liet ilef from the inroads of severe financial distress being caused to publishers throughout the country by a rapidly spreading use of circulars instead of newspaper advertising er and also from the mushrooming growth of now throw which are springing up in mounting numbers in urban suburban and rural areas replies to the questionnaire show that a total of throw had been started up in communities across the country since the order went into in august 1953 this development was laid at the door of the liberalized bulk mailing order by the publishers answering the questionnaire bernard esters pointed out that this order could ultimately destroy newspapers in the small towns kf it america as we have known them and cause serious harm to larger city newspapers by diverting practically by government directive revenue which both must have to survive and serve into interior inferior unstable and irresponsible pon sible media he said the liberalizing of this order had transformed a government monopoly partially subsidized by government lovern met funds fund into direct and unfair competition with a private industry which contributes its fair share of those private funds NEA officials felt that this liberalized order could develop into an assault on ALL advertising media now being circulated under second class mailing privileges they also point out that it makes recipients of the mall mail the unwitting and unwilling targets for every conceivable sucker scheme promoters can devise to trap the unwary by low cist cost mass circulation of sed mall mail without regulation or restriction |
