Without trees there would be no newspapers, including this one you’re holding in your hands. That’s because the paper we print the local news on is processed from trees. Books, magazines and pamphlets also come from trees. And, come to think of it, so do dollar bills and other paper money.
If only money grew on trees, instead of being made from cut-down trees, we might not be writing this editorial right now. That is because our newspaper industry just got hit with a whopping tariff increase of 32 percent. It’s a complicated — mostly political — story but some newspapers already have laid off workers and are warning their public they might not survive.
Here at our newspaper, we’d rather spend our money on more reporters, more news and more news pages. It’s a big waste and insult to get hit with this tariff when it does nobody any good.
The timing for newspapers everywhere is bad because we were already being challenged by declining advertising revenues and other rising expenses.
Like thousands of other newspapers, we are left with no choice but to increase our subscription rates. We hope our readers will understand this necessity, as we do not take this action lightly.
If money really did grow on trees then we wouldn’t have to raise our subscription prices. If we could harvest dollars off low-hanging limbs the way we pick grapes around here we could print lots more pages of news, pay our reporters a livable wage and hand out copies of the newspaper like they were free wine tastes.
Unfortunately, we all live in a world without money-bearing trees. Our industry is not alone. That’s why gasoline, milk and bread don’t cost what they used to either.
Effective next month (June 2018) our annual subscription rate will increase to $60 per year, up from $50. We will be offering all current subscribers a special offer to renew at the current rate for two more years. We hope many of you take advantage of this cost break.
The added weekly cost we are facing here at this newspaper is like going to the gas pump on your next visit and being shocked by a new per gallon price of $5.01, up from last week’s $3.80.
The story-behind-the-story is that new hedge fund owners of a single pulp mill (Norpac) in Washington State lobbied the Trump Commerce Department to issue “protective tariffs” against its Canadian competitors. Newspaper publishers, all other U.S. and Canadian paper producers, the Book Manufacturers Institute and 34 Congressmen oppose the Norpac move.
There is still time for Congressional action to overturn these catastrophic cost increases. The current tariffs are being assessed at the border under temporary orders and could be rescinded by Congress.
This favorable treatment of a single company and its stockholders is a travesty to newspapers like ours. This is the reverse of the Trump Administration trying to protect American steel and aluminum jobs. This is a no-win situation.
Printing newspapers is very expensive. No wonder so many publishers and readers are moving to the Internet and newspaper websites. That’s happening here, too.
But many of our readers have told us loud and clear they want their weekly news delivered the old-fashioned way — on paper. We like paper, too, and are committed to serving all our readers — in print and online. But everyone must now accept that the print version just got more precious.
We are fighting against these tariffs and hope to avoid other price increases to our readers and advertisers. We are asking for your support and for your subscription renewals. Compared to local gas prices and the cost of coffee or a good bottle of wine, our local newspaper is still a very good deal.
