PEAK TO PEAK - Publishing in the US changes today—especially in the universe of small and rural publishers. Because today the Trump administration levied a 25% tariff against all products coming from Canada, and 80% of the newsprint used in this country comes from Canada.
According to the News/Media Alliance (all data in the article, unless otherwise referenced, comes from the N/MA), “In 2023, Canada produced approximately 80% of newsprint, 2.1 metric tons, while the United States produced only 421,000 metric tons. U.S. companies do not even supply certain types of newsprint paper, where it can only be sourced in Canada.”
Think about that for a minute: how so many of us rely on newspapers to get our information about life in general, including current events, politics, weather, local events, sports…and what we want to buy, wear, and eat. Even in this day, when many of us turn to our smartphones for much of this information, the local newspaper often provides most of the purely local information we need for much of our day-to-day living.
But back to tariffs, and how they harm us in so many ways; in particular, how they harm the local newspaper industry: “These crippling new taxes include newsprint used by newspapers, magazines, book publishers and printers. Newsprint tariffs were reversed in 2018 during the first Trump Administration due to the harm caused to publishers and the American public.”
And since then, publishing costs have gone up dramatically, and local publishers have been hard hit as printers have gone under. Remember, The Mountain-Ear had a bad time last year when our long-time printer went out of business. Again the N/MA tells us, “newsprint tariffs will result in the loss of thousands of jobs in the already-stressed U.S. publishing and printing industries, as well as the U.S. paper industry.”
They go on to say “Higher prices and limited supplies are creating a crisis for small-town and rural newspapers. This will result in job losses and less access to news coverage. Some community and rural newspapers may have to permanently shut their doors, leaving news deserts. Once a paper shuts down, it does not come back.”
We were already feeling the stress when, on January 23, we printed the Peak Perspective article “We need you, and you need us.” We told you then that “The Mountain-Ear exists to present local voices and issues with honesty and clarity. We try to give our readers an unbiased view of what goes on here, in our Peak to Peak communities by covering all levels of local government, the schools, the social and charitable organizations, the observers of various aspects of our beautiful surroundings, and facilitators of our personal growth.”
We mentioned then some ways you could help us survive in the hostile new environment we are facing. At that point, we hadn’t yet taken into account the threat of tariffs pricing us out of business. So what can we do?
The National Newspaper Association (NNA) has offered some options. They note that “this type of tariff does not afford the opportunity for affected parties to challenge the duties in an adjudicated notice and comment process. Litigation and public pressure [emphasis is the writer’s] are the only options to address the tariffs unless the United States and Canadian governments can negotiate a resolution.”
They “Encourage NNA members to contact their representative and senators to ask them to implore [Senate Commerce Committee] Chairmen [Brett] Guthrie and [Ted] Cruz to act on the request to seek the newsprint exemption from the administration
“Coordinate with other business groups to participate in any broad-based opposition efforts
“Evaluate options to support litigation against the tariffs by business groups and any opportunity to seek an exemption for newsprint.”
It is obvious that this issue is only one among many that are currently being addressed by “litigation and public pressure” in this brave new world we find ourselves in. But as we strongly protest and lobby against…pick one, any one…let us remember that the actual existence of local news outlets is in danger of extinction. And that would be one hell of a loss.
The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,200 news, magazine and digital media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.
