National Newspaper Association
Missouri Office
P.O. Box 7540
Columbia, MO 65205
573-777-4980
Fax: 573-777-4985
Website: www.nnaweb.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 19, 2012
Contact: Stan Schwartz, 573-777-4981
NNA joins appeal on Valassis postage discounts
The National Newspaper Association, representing nearly 2,300 community newspapers and their
executives, today filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia
Circuit of the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision to permit special postage discounts for Valassis
Direct Mail Inc.
The discounts of 22 to 34 percent of Standard pricing were created by the US Postal Service as part of
a negotiated service agreement intended to increase direct mail by attracting customary newspaper
advertisers, primarily those that appear in weekend insert packages. The newspaper industry mounted
vigorous protests against the deal at the Postal Regulatory Commission, but lost in a 4-1 decision by
the Commissioners who said in their opinion that they believed the Postal Service should compete
against newspapers.
NNA President Reed Anfinson, publisher of the Swift County (MN) Monitor-News, said the community
newspaper industry finds the concept of a federal enterprise setting out intentionally to weaken
newspapers objectionable.
“Above and beyond the harm to local newspapers that this deal will create, the notion that the Postal
Service should set its sights on taking away newspaper advertising is shocking to many of us who
have traditionally seen the Postal Service as our delivery partner,” Anfinson said. “We made our case
to the PRC and found that its decision did not address the effects of the discount on small newspapers
that compete with Valassis at all. It is unusual for NNA to litigate in federal court, but in this case, it
was a step we had to take.”
NNA Postal Committee Chair Max Heath said he viewed the discount arrangement as a big misstep by
the beleaguered Postal Service. “Postal Service says the ‘profit’ from this agreement would be less
than $42 million. That is about what it loses in a single day in its current financial state—a very small
amount of money for the grief it has created from this deal. It will lose mail from newspapers and
their Standard Mail shoppers as our industry becomes concerned about dealing with a partner that
wants to damage us. It is hard for me to see how this creates a net gain for an institution that needs
to maintain its stakeholders’ trust at this critical time,” Heath said.
NNA said it believed the Commission erred in its analysis of the market impact and that it was not
clear whether the Commission regarded the newspaper competitor as Valassis or the Postal Service
itself.
NNA is represented in the case by Steven C. Douse, attorney with King & Ballow, Nashville, TN.
Douse’s legal background is in antitrust law. He is a former trial attorney and assistant section chief
for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and has also served as a staff attorney to
the National Commission for the Review of Antitrust Laws and Procedures. He has represented
newspapers in the past in antitrust matters relating to mergers and acquisitions.