Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/65176
Page 2 HSPA calendar Now June 7 June 15 June 21 July 20 July 27 Sept. 21 Sept. 28 Oct. 11-12 Dec. 1 Media $ales Basics advertising training available FREE in 2012 for HSPA members HSPA Foundation Golf Outing, Southern Dunes Golf Course, Indianapolis Advertising Contest deadline APME/HSPA Foundation Road Show for Reporters, Indianapolis HSPA board meeting, Indianapolis Better Newspaper Contest deadline and HSPA Foundation board meeting & Pulliam Intern Luncheon Circulation Conference, Indianapolis INAEA/HSPA Foundation Advertising Conference, Indianapolis Marriott North HSPA & HSPA Foundation Joint Board Retreat, Hotel Nashville Newsroom Seminar and Better Newspaper Contest Awards Luncheon, Indianapolis Marriott North HSPA Board of Directors HSPA Officers Vice President: Robyn McCloskey, Pharos-Tribune (Logansport), Kokomo Tribune President: Greg Morris, IBJ Corp. Treasurer: Tina West, The Courier-Times (New Castle) HSPA Board Members Secretary: Jon O'Bannon, The Corydon Democrat Dailies Tim Timmons, The Paper of Montgomery County (Crawfordsville), The Times (Noblesville) Bill Masterson Jr., The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster) Randall Shields, Daily Reporter (Greenfield) Kim Wilson, South Bend Tribune Nondailies Kathy Tretter, Dubois-Spencer County Publishing Co. Inc. Shannon Williams, Indianapolis Recorder John Haley, Pulaski County Journal (Winamac) Don Hurd, Benton Review (Fowler) HSPA Foundation Board of Directors HSPA Foundation Officers President: Henry Bird, The Herald Bulletin (Anderson) Vice President: John Rumbach, The Herald (Jasper) Secretary: Pat Lanman, Vevay Newspapers Inc. Treasurer: Jeff Rogers, Home News Enterprises HSPA Foundation Board of Directors Barbara King, North Vernon Plain Dealer & Sun Mayer Maloney, Hoosier Times Inc. Jack Pate, Evansville Courier & Press Neal Ronquist, Paxton Media Group Linda Chandler, Ripley Publishing Nancy Grossman, Leader Publishing Curt Jacobs, The Madison Courier Gary Suisman, Journal and Courier (Lafayette) May 10, 2012 Truths about postal reform N By Reed Anfinson National Newspaper Association How Indiana's the ailing U.S. Postal Service, critics are trying to disable the bill on its way to the House of Representatives. Business Week recently cat- ow that the U.S. Senate has passed a bill, S 1789, to reform senators voted The 21st Century Postal Service Act recently passed the U.S. Senate 62 to 37. Sens. Richard Lugar alogued unhappy stakehold- ers, including postal unions, postal management and some Republicans who wrongly think the bill burdens taxpay- ers. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Dan Coats both voted against the measure. The two Republican lawmakers offered these statements in response to a request from HSPA about why they opposed the act: From Lugar's office: whose own bill awaits action in the House, blasted "special interests." But Business Week says, "Considering how many people are unhappy with the bill, it isn't clear which special interests Issa is referring to." Some see the Senate bill as While Senator Lugar strong- ly supports reforms of the U.S. Postal System and the critical services it provides to communities and businesses in Indiana, the bill passed by the Senate falls short of ensuring the long-term viability of the U.S. Postal Service. the inevitable product of the sausage machine. But it is neither a budget buster nor processed meat. It is the expression of a better vision of the Postal Service. If you consider that survival of the service means main- taining the circulatory system for a $1.1 trillion mailing industry – or in other words, making sure cash, greeting cards, packages and newspa- pers and magazines arrive on time, the Senate bill is good medicine. Consider some of the alter- native fixes. Issa's bill would let the Postal Service immediately end Saturday mail, close half the mail processing centers and thousands of post offices, and put a new board of politi- cal appointees in charge. The new board would be expected to trim workers' benefits and maybe wages and direct the Postmaster General to favor profit over service. At the other extreme might Senator Lugar is hopeful that a consensus agree- ment can be reached which addresses these long-term challenges. He is open to voting for a conference report if the bill is improved. From Coats' office: Though the Postal Act con- tains some positive steps, this legislation is a missed opportunity to make the structural reforms necessary to save the Postal Service. Short-term financial relief will not ensure that mail delivery and taxpayer dollars are protected in the future. The U.S. Postal Service is a cherished American institution, but it faces a financial crisis that requires more than just a temporary fix. By its own estimate, the Postal Service will face a shortfall of up to $238 billion by 2020. The Postal Service must change the way it operates and adapt to a world increasingly reliant on digital communication. HSPA staff Steve Key, executive director and general counsel skey@hspa.com • (317) 624-4427 Karen T. Braeckel, HSPA Foundation director kbraeckel@hspa.com • (317) 624-4426 Pamela Lego, MAP advertising director plego@hspa.com • (812) 350-7711 Milissa Tuley, communications specialist mtuley@hspa.com • (317) 624-4430 yyeadon@hspa.com • (317) 624-4433 Yvonne Yeadon, office manager Shawn Goldsby, advertising coordinator sgoldsby@hspa.com • (317) 803-4772 Employees sought 41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204, (317) 803-4772. ISSN 0019-6711 USPS 058-730. The Indiana Publisher is published bi-weekly by Hoosier State Press Association, 41 E. Washington St., Suite 301, Indianapolis, IN, 46204, (317) 803-4772, Fax (317) 624-4428. Website: www.hspa.com Periodicals-class postage paid at Indianapolis, Ind., and at additional mailing office. Postmaster: Send address changes to Subscriptions $25 per year. Ad rates furnished upon request. Ad director – Five-day Indiana daily in a great market seeks some- one who is used to winning. Are you a successful sales rep looking for that first management job? Maybe an ad director tired of working through one budget cut after anoth- er? We've got a strong website and are poised to catapult forward under the right leadership. Send resume and cover letter to advanswer@ gmail.com. (1) General manager – Five-day Indiana daily seeks a leader with a strong sales background. This is a very hands-on job, and we are looking for someone with a successful sales background who is strongly self- motivated, is the leading sales person wherever they have worked and is ready to lead a newspaper to great heights. Our century-old newspaper be Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who wanted to keep every- thing open. Labor unions backing him say the Postal Service will heal as the econo- my heals. Then there is the White House's notion: to raise postage rates. For Sens. Susan Collins, The Lieberman-Collins bill agrees that the Postal Service needs a more flexible, less costly workforce. It keeps mail flowing wouldn't miss Saturday mail. But the Postal Service builds its system around senders, not receivers. Who would be hurt by a five-day delivery regime? Anyone who depends on timely mail delivery. • Closing small post offices compromise or of a different vision? Consider: • The Postal Service's plant-closing plan is based on a desire to amass more mail at automated urban centers, where costly machines sit idle much of the day. To optimize machines, the Postal Service would haul mail much far- ther. But the hauling would slow the mail stream. • Many Americans say they seems a no-brainer to city dwellers who spot those one- room operations at the road- side on the way to the beach. Surely not all are needed. But rather than closing them entirely, the Postal Service could have circuit-rider post- masters to open them a few hours a day. • The Congressional Budget Office says the Senate bill would cost $33.6 billion, add- ing to the federal deficit. But postage-payers, not taxpayers, carry that burden. Taxpayers face a liability as the funder- of-last resort only if postage revenues dry up – which is more likely to happen if the mail slows to a crawl. Finally, members of Con- gress may differ on how they see the Postal Service. Is it a corporation? Is it a govern- ment agency responsible for binding the nation together? Fact: It is a government- sponsored enterprise, more like Fannie Mae than like IBM or the Defense Depart- ment. It has to use business tools but carry out a public mission. It isn't compromise that is through today's network while cost cutting is underway. For example, they would R-Maine, and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., neither extreme is suited to long-term survival of the Postal Service. To many experts, Issa's approach is likely to frighten away businesses that mail. end Saturday mail delivery in two years, but only if the Postal Service has taken other big steps toward finan- cial viability. They would allow the closing of postal plants now, if the Postal Service preserves local mail delivery speed. Is their bill the product of Member notices publishes five days a week in a great market. We've got a strong website and are poised to catapult forward under the right leadership. Send resume and cover letter to advanswer@gmail.com. (1) Audience manager/content – The Journal & Courier Media Group seeks an experienced and innova- tive manager to lead the reporters who provide local content for a growing digital news service on mul- tiple platforms and an award-winning daily newspaper. The position will meld some of the traditional duties of a city editor with the emerging responsibilities of running a digital- first information center. The position reports to Michael Davis, executive editor. Contact him at mdavis4@ jconline.com. (1) Advertising rep – The Tipton County Tribune is looking for an individual to sell and service adver- tising accounts in print and online products. This could also develop into a management position for someone with newspaper experi- ence or ink in their blood. Send resume and salary requirements to Robert Nash, Elwood Publishing Co., P.O. Box 85, Elwood, IN 46036. (1) Reporter-page designer – KPC Media Group, which publishes three small dailies in northeast Indiana, is looking for a multi-talented journalist to write features, edit lifestyle pages and paginate news pages. Page design and pagination skills are important. Reply to nancys@ kpcnews.net. (2) Send member notices to mtuley@ hspa.com. Postings will be listed as space permits in print and in full at www.hspa.com. needed but a clear-eyed vision based on a full understanding of the needs of all who the Postal Service serves. Postal management today has an impossible task, expected to accomplish busi- ness goals without the cost- controlling tools businesses have and expected to achieve government ends without fed- eral support. of the National Newspaper Association and publisher of the Swift County (Minn.) Monitor-News. Reed Anfinson is president