06/22/2018

Fight to stop newsprint tariffs goes to DC; ONMA members urged to sign petition before upcoming International Trade Commission meeting

On June 14 more than 55 newspaper publishers and executives around the country met with their members of Congress to discuss legislation to stop the crippling newsprint tariffs. The Ohio newspaper industry and the ONMA were represented by four executives: Kevin Behrens, publisher of The Marysville Journal-Tribune; George Rodrigue, president and editor of The Plain Dealer; Frank M. Snyder, publisher of The Daily Standard; and David Spector, publisher of The Budget.

The ONMA thanks these executives for taking the time to go to Washington D.C. and fight for our industry.

All ONMA members are still urged to contact their members of Congress. For complete information on doing this, including talking points on what to ask your member of Congress to do, go here.

The fight against the tariffs is currently focused on the International Trade Commission (ITC), which is completing its final investigation. The News Media Alliance (NMA) in coordination with the STOPP Coalition has launched a petition calling on the ITC to reverse the tariffs. They are hoping to obtain 10,000 signatures before the ITC’s July 17 hearing, so if you haven’t already signed the petition do so now.

The NMA has also released new print and digital ads for newspapers to run, which can be found here and here. Please use these ads as soon as you can. Be sure to also discuss the petition and the overall tariff issue on your editorial pages and on social media.

As always, if you have any questions or would like to help ONMA with this fight, contact Dennis Hetzel at dhetzel@ohionews.org.