Letter from the Publisher: How rising newsprint costs affect 600,000 American jobs
By Patrick Wood
Publisher, Multimedia Channels
Dear Reader,
There are times when it is important to share with you thoughts about events in our State and in our Country. This is one of those times.
One of our biggest costs is newsprint. Recently the government imposed tariffs on Canada, which is the largest source of newsprint in North America. As a result, newsprint costs have sky-rocketed by over 60%. This is having a big impact on us, making it more difficult to pay our other bills. To make ends meet, we’ve had to cut back in certain areas, like the number of columnists we pay for weekly articles and the amount of color we print.
In this situation, buying American is not an option. There are only five plants that produce newsprint remaining in the U.S. Dozens of U.S. paper mills have either closed or shifted to the production of corrugated boxes for Amazon over the past decade. According to Tony Smithson, vice president of printing operations at Bliss Comunications, if every U.S. paper mill operated at full capacity they would only be able to produce 60 percent of the newsprint consumed in this country.
Local and national newspapers employ over 600,000 Americans. They, like us, are severely impacted by tariffs on newsprint. Other businesses employing large numbers of Americans, both nationally and here in Wisconsin, also are affected by recent changes in tariffs. Auto manufacturers, for example, have seen a huge jump in the price of steel.
And auto makers and farmers are being affected by retaliation from other countries, which are raising their tariffs in response to ours.
As a State and as a Country, we have to ask ourselves: Who is being helped by these tariffs? I personally don’t see any Americans being helped. Meanwhile, I read stories every day of people who have been hurt by them, and our newspaper is a prime example. Auto makers, farmers, newspapers–we all are essential to a healthy economy. So I am asking you to do two things.
1. Please understand that when we make changes to the paper, it often is because we have to, not because we want to. Like any other business, we have to find a way to pay our bills, and sometimes that means cutting back on things we can’t afford any more.
2. If you are so inclined, call our Congressional representatives and our Senators to tell them your thoughts about our current economic course.
As patriotic Americans, our first loyalty must always be to what is best for our country. I ask you to consider in your heart what you feel is best for our country, and to follow that as your guiding principle. I pledge to you to do the same.