Post Office Ceasing Saturday Delivery Bad News for MSM

Post Office Ceasing Saturday Delivery Bad News for MSM

Starting in August, the United States Post Office will cease Saturday delivery of first class mail. Though packages and prescriptions will still be delivered; letters, fliers and newsweeklies will sit until Monday. Because the media is in as bad of financial shape as post office, some publishers are worried:

Saturday delivery is a “reader experience issue,” The Week’s president, Steven Kotok, told Poynter by phone. The Week closes its issues late on Wednesday night and delivers them to postal centers Thursday morning, with the expectation that 90 percent of its subscribers will have their copies by Saturday at the latest. If that overflow day moves to Monday, “it’s essentially two not-great options that we have to weigh,” Kotok said.

“Close earlier, which means you’re gonna miss a little bit, or give up on the weekend thing and get it to them on Monday.” The magazine, he said, is “called The Week because it kind of gives you a more thoughtful view on what’s going on.” Moving to Monday would change how readers use the magazine.

“The Week” wouldn’t be the only news magazine affected:

The move is expected to affect a number of print magazines, including The Week, The Economist, Time Magazine, and Bloomberg Businessweek, which close toward the end of the week. Subscribers who receive those magazines on Saturdays could now have to wait until Monday morning, making the weeklies less timely.

There’s a big difference between receiving a magazine on the weekend, when you have a leisurely day or two to read it,  and receiving it at the beginning of a busy work week. The chances of getting around to reading it are much less likely under those circumstances, and people tend to cancel subscriptions to things they no longer use — especially in this faltering Obama economy where every dollar counts. 

Wonder how many of these media outlets shilled for that economy?

Just asking.

 

Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC  

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