Newsprint tariff hurts local news
Publishers are facing additional costs that will delay or halt the industry’s shift to digital.
The viability of local newspapers is being challenged by a proposed tariff on the import of newsprint from Canada — the type that is used to print this newspaper and others across this state.
Simply put, Pennsylvania’s newspapers cannot absorb the additional financial burden that this tax — based on a dubious complaint from a single paper mill — is sure to create.
If passed, the resulting hardship could lead to thousands of job losses in the U.S. newspaper publishing sector, which employs more than 175,000 people nationwide, according to the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.
We are at an important juncture right now as a nation and in this industry.
Our role of getting real news to you on a daily basis matters more than ever.
A credible news source that has a vested interest in community-based news and information is the bedrock of our principles as a free nation.
Nearly eight in 10 adults read a newspaper each week and newspapers are consistently rated as the most trusted source of news and information.
Pennsylvania is home to 76 daily newspapers and more than 150 non-daily newspapers — many of which serve small, rural communities.
Many of those provide the only meaningful news coverage in those small communities.
This measure could put them out of business and cut off rural America from local news coverage.
Newspapers have a vital impact on the communities they serve.
As the president of the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, Mark Cohen, said, “Readers rely on newspapers to provide credible information about what matters most to them — news about local people, local government, local happenings, local businesses and important public notices that can impact a community.”
This tariff could hamper newspapers’ ongoing digital transformation.
Publishers will be faced with additional costs that will delay or halt the newspaper industry’s shift to digital and accelerate the decline in both the newsprint and printed newspaper industries.
We live here and work here and care about this place we call home. We are you. We are Pennsylvania.
We are local businesses.
Newspapers and newspaper associations are uniting against newsprint tariffs. This is not only a print industry concern, but could ultimately affect other business segments in the U.S. that rely on paper products. Please help us protect the future of newspapers by contacting the Department of Commerce, Pennsylvania Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, and U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly, R3rd Dist., and Glenn Thompson, R-5th Dist. Let them know that you oppose the proposed newsprint trade tariff.
A free press is more important than ever and newspapers have always been at the forefront of serving our communities.
We remain steadfast in our commitment of continuing to do so.
A credible news source that has a vested interest in community based news and information is the bedrock of our principles as a free nation. Nearly eight in 10 adults read a newspaper each week and newspapers are consistently rated as the most trusted source of information.