TWN
THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER
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May 2021
Page 5
Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Post Office plan: Slow mail down, & charge more
Contest entries match last year
Idea has serious implications for the newspaper industry By Julia Shurman News Media Alliance The U.S. Postal Service plays an integral part in serving the needs of citizens throughout the nation, delivering letters, newspapers, marketing pieces and packages to individuals and businesses across the country. However, large decreases in mail volume along with a substantial increase in operational costs have led USPS to lose $87 billion over the last 14 years. On March 22, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy unveiled his new ten-year strategic plan for the Postal Service, “Delivering for America,” to tackle the agency’s growing fiscal crisis and position itself for an
increased market share in the package business. The plan will impact all users of the postal system, with clear and potentially serious implications for newspaper publishers that rely on the postal system for newspaper delivery. The 58-page plan outlines strategies to be imposed beginning later this year that will save USPS from a projected $160 billion loss over the next decade. The plan focuses on several initiatives such as reducing air transportation in favor of trucks, shortening post office hours, and integrating the postal retiree health benefits system into Medicare. Meanwhile, See POST OFFICE, Page 5
This photo by Dee Camp of the Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle is one the entries in this year’s Better Newspaper Contest.
For several decades starting in the 1970s, Robinson Newspapers in Seattle employed hundreds and was one of Seattle’s most successful media companies. Jerry Robinson, the patriarch of the familly, built the family business around weekly newspapers serving the residents of Highline, West Seattle, Ballard, Federal Way
and White Center. Jerry Robinson also was very active in WNPA, serving on the board in several roles and becoming president in 1988. On April 30, the last Robinson newspaper closed. In the final edition of Westside Seattle, Jerry’s son Patrick reflected on the career path his father forged.
By Patrick Robinson Some of my earliest memories are of the smell of ink. My father, Jerry Robinson worked for a newspaper and when I was just six months old he bought one. Not because he was rich. He wasn’t. He had four boys and we lived in a modest home up by Top Hat east of White Center. He was smart though
Thanks to everyone who entered this year’s Better Newspaper Contest. We expected something of a dropoff in entries in this pandemic year but in the end we matched the number submitteed last year. You still have time to submit this year’s tourism supplement. The deadline for that is June 1. Because tourism supplements can sometimes be large files, it might be of benefit to dig out that PDF now and reduce it to a manageable size instead of waiting until the last minute. Several members struggled with that last week. Here at WNPA, we say the way to reduce stress is to stay ahead of the curve. Insert smiley emogi here.
Last Robinson newspaper, Westside Seattle, closes its doors and incredibly hard working. He convinced the owner of the paper that he was trustworthy and John Muller made him an offer. He’d sell him the White Center News by letting him pay it off over time. Thus the course of my life was set. Certainly it has been shaped by many things but the core themes of words, images, stories, the relationships found
only in communities and yes the smell of ink are echoing for me now. All my brothers worked at the paper learning every part of the business. We took pictures, wrote stories, sold ads, did interviews, went to meetings, dreamt up promotions, and served as junior ambassadors for our father. See ROBINSON, Page 5