Thrown Overboard: Publishers Feel Abandoned by the U.S. Postal Service

Until recently, Postal Service executives talked about periodicals as “the anchor in the mailbox.” But lately, says one publishing executive, it seems that “the USPS just tied us to the anchor and threw it overboard.”

With the demise of “Aunt Minnie mail” (personal letters), USPS officials talked about magazines and newspapers as the key to “the mailbox moment” when people excitedly check their mail. But in recent months publishers have grown increasingly nervous about their reliance on a nearly insolvent Postal Service that seems ready to jettison them, including a recent proposal to abolish the Periodicals class altogether.

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