30 The Queens Courier • July 5, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com
30 THE QUEENS COURIER • JULY 5, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
editorial oped
Stop attacking the press!
For obvious reasons, last week’s deadly mass shooting at the offi ces of Th e Capital
Gazette, a community newspaper in Maryland, struck a nerve with all of us who live
and breathe local journalism.
Our hearts go out to the fi ve members of Th e Capital Gazette who were gunned down
in cold blood by just another of the many gun-toting madmen who’ve rained death and
grief upon our country in recent years.
Th e shooting happened at a time in our country in which the free press is under constant
attack from the president and his many supporters. Just days before the massacre,
President Trump branded the press as “the enemy of the American people” before
a crowd at one of his many rallies. Similar slanders against journalism in America have
been oft repeated by Trump and his many boosters on right-wing media outlets and
social media networks.
Th e Capital Gazette massacre apparently stemmed from one man’s deranged grudge
against the publication which goes back several years. Th at motive, however, does not
excuse the hateful and infl ammatory lies the president and his followers have perpetuated
against the press of this country for years.
It evolved from accusations of “liberal media” bias from loudmouths who didn’t like
what they were hearing on TV or reading in the papers, to Trump’s constant “enemy of
the people” slander, to the re-emergence of the German word lugenpresse (lying press),
a Nazi term used by many right-wing trolls today.
Th e Founding Fathers codifi ed in the Constitution the importance of the press.
Indeed, it’s important not only to the survival of our republic, but the survival of communities.
We’re here to be your eyes, ears and even the voice on the issues aff ecting you in government,
in your neighborhood, in your school district, even on your block. We’re here
to inform, enlighten investigate and educate you on the world you live in.
Sometimes the truth can be painful or inconvenient; not every story can have a happy
ending. But without the press, the world is a fantasyland molded by powerful individuals
who create their own truth and do not care about your life, liberty or happiness.
We are not the enemy. Th ese repeated attacks on the press in our country are intolerable,
disgraceful and unamerican to the core.
An attack on one outlet is not only an attack on every media outlet, but also an attack
on all of us — and all of you — as free-speaking Americans.
THE QUEENS
sun
WWW.COURIERSUN.COM
PUBLISHER & EDITOR
CO-PUBLISHER
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA
ART DIRECTOR
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
STAFF REPORTERS
CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS
ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER
CLASSIFIED MANAGER
CONTROLLER
PRESIDENT & CEO
VICE PRESIDENT
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
BOB BRENNAN
ROBERT POZARYCKI
AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ
NIRMAL SINGH
EMILY DAVENPORT
KATRINA MEDOFF, RYAN KELLEY, JENNA BAGCAL
SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI
DEBORAH CUSICK
CELESTE ALAMIN
MARIA VALENCIA
VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS
JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS
Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361
718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441
www.qns.com
editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com
for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com
Entire Contents Copyright 2017 by The Queens Courier
All letters sent to THE QUEENS COURIER should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should
include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating
special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, AS WELL AS OP-ED PIECES IN NO WAY REFLECT THE PAPER’S POSITION.
No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE QUEENS COURIER. The
publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the
error. Errors must be reported to THE QUEENS COURIER within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be
guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. Schneps Communications assumes no liability for the content or
reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold
THE QUEENS COURIER and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting
from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement.
Newsprint tariff s hurt
community papers the most
BY JOSHUA SCHNEPS
When considering the newspaper
industry in the United States, many in
the federal government tend to think
of large corporations owning chains of
daily and non-daily metro newspapers.
But few probably have a grasp or understanding
of the sheer number, local infl uence
and critical information provided
by locally-owned, non-daily community
newspapers.
Like Th e Queens Courier, founded
by my mother Victoria Schneps in her
home, and the Ridgewood Times, many
local newspapers are multi-generational,
family-owned and operated businesses.
Th e majority of employees at these
locally owned businesses, from salespeople
to reporters, live in the communities
they serve.
Publishing local community newspapers
has always been an intensely competitive
industry; Queens County alone
has fi ve privately-owned, weekly community
newspaper groups. But with local
advertising going more and more to public
corporate entities including Facebook,
Google and Yelp, the industry has faced
a crisis.
Th e only mode of survival has been
cutting costs and keeping them as low as
possible.
Th e newspaper industry has two core
expenses: staffi ng and printing. A majority
of community newspapers do not have
their own printing facilities. Th ey are at
the mercy of larger companies, many
large metro dailies, that have started to
print smaller community newspapers and
buy the newsprint in bulk.
Th e United States does not have
enough newsprint to meet the demand
of publishers here in America; we need
the Canadian newsprint to survive as an
industry.
I have read that the federal government
feels the current tariff s put in place
will have a minimal impact on newspapers
expenses. First, this is inaccurate.
Printing expenses have increased
5%-30% in just the past 3 months, which
equates to about a 2-15% increase in
overall expenses.
Secondly, if the current costs of newsprint
do not pull back, newspapers will be
forced to layoff workers, and many publications
will close. Th is is not an industry
that is in a position to pass on this added
expenses to our advertisers in the way of
higher advertising costs or increase subscription
prices.
Because of the current state of the
industry, most newspapers are running
very lean operations with slim profi t margins.
Many have invested in digital marketing,
but this accounts on average to
less than 10% of overall revenue.
We implore the federal government to
support an industry that not only is vital
to our democracy, but is a major employer
of local workers throughout the country.
Lastly, if this administration can not act
in a timely manner to resolve the tariff s
on newsprint, we hope this information
will be taken into consideration to review
other measures that can off set this sudden
increase in expenses to this vital industry.
Please contact your local Member
of Congress and U.S. Senators Charles
Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and urge
them to do what they can to stop this
industry-killing tariff .
Joshua Schneps is co-publisher of Th e
Queens Courier, Ridgewood Times, El
Correo NY and Noticia LI.
Publisher & E ditor Victoria Schneps-Yunis
Co-Publisher Joshua A. Schneps
Associate Publisher Bob Brennan
E ditor-In-Chief Robert Pozarycki
VP, Events, Web & Social Media Amy Amato-Sanchez
Art Director Nirmal Singh
S ocial Media Manager Emily Davenport
S taff Reporters Katrina Medoff, Ryan Kelly, Angela Matua
Suzanne Monteverdi
Contributing Reporters Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni
Assistant to Publisher Deborah Cusick
Classified Manager Celeste Alamin
Controller Maria Valencia
President & CEO Victoria Schneps-Yunis
Vice President Joshua A. Schneps
Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361
718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441
www.qns.com
editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com
for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com
Entire Contents Copyright 2017 by The Courier Sun
All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should
include a full address and home and office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation,
indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request.
No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE COURIER SUN. The
publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by
the error. Errors must be reported to THE COURIER SUN within five days of publication. Ad position
cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication.
VIctoria Media Services assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes
all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold The Courier SUN and its
employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the
publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement.
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