Understanding the Media

(This article appears in the May-June 2014 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

Clint Burelson, Clerk Division Director

A January editorial in the “Colorado Springs Gazette” about the union’s campaign against the USPS deal with Staples begins with this: “Lingering on life support, the last thing the Postal Service needs is suffocating interference from an antiquated union.”

Talk about over the top!

But the anti-union animus isn’t random. Research shows that the Gazette is owned by Phillip Anschutz, one of the richest people in the world. He is the fortunate son of an oil tycoon and land owner. He owns more land than any other private citizen in the United States, along with railroads and telecommunications companies.

Anschutz also owns sports teams and sports venues, including – you guessed it – the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Given his background, it’s not surprising that Anschutz’s publication would speak harshly against the APWU’s challenge to Staples.

Unfortunately, Anschutz is just one example. Here are some important features of the media that every union member should consider:

The Cost of Ownership – The cost of starting, buying, owning, and running a major media outlet is so high that only the super-rich can afford it. These individuals are able to make large profits – and control the flow of information – because of their monopoly control of the media.

Media Monopoly – There has been a steady erosion of the “anti-trust” laws that limit how much media any one company may own. In 1981, 46 corporations controlled most of the daily newspapers, magazines, television, publishing and film companies. Today, just six corporations control approximately 90 percent of the media in the US.

An Inherent Corporate Bias – The owners of media corporations are not economically neutral. They are in business to make a profit and naturally present information that serves their own interests. Most media corporations, which compete with the USPS for advertising revenue, support downsizing the Postal Service.

Advertising Enforces a Bias – Media empires make most of their money through corporate advertising. They may be reluctant to disseminate information that will upset their advertisers.

Freedom of the Press – Media corporations can reject programming and advertising they disagree with. As A.J. Liebling said, “Freedom of press is limited to those who own one.”

The Myth of Consumer Control – To media owners, advertising revenue reigns supreme. Broadcast companies receive almost all their revenue from advertising. Roughly 80 percent of newspapers’ revenue comes from advertising. In Great Britain, the Daily Herald, a labor-friendly newspaper, had twice the readership of its rival, yet it went under due to lack of advertising revenue.

Sources Shape Behavior – Media corporations often get information from government officials and representatives of big business. As a result, reporting is often lopsided in favor of these powerful interests.

Involved in Dismantling USPS – Large media interests support the dismantling of the Postal Service. They lobby Congress; regularly participate in USPS committees, such as the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC), and influence public opinion through their news coverage and editorials.

$100,000 Per Minute?

Imagine a town hall meeting where citizens make decisions and everyone has the right to speak. Now imagine the right to speak costs money and the going rate is $100,000 per minute. A few well- heeled citizens would have enough money to buy all of the available time. The majority of people wouldn’t be able to afford a single second. We wouldn’t tolerate such an outrage at a town hall meeting. Why do we tolerate it in our media?

Clerk Craft Settlements Impact Jobs, Conversions

The USPS acknowledged in a Feb. 25 settlement that its obligation to create desirable new duty assignments from “all avail- able work hours” includes hours worked by Postal Support Employees. The agreement resolves a Step 4 Dispute the Postal Service initiated on Oct. 24, 2013, asserting it was not required to consider PSE hours. Another Feb. 25 settlement stipulates that newly converted unencumbered regulars will be assigned to residual vacancies, in accordance with Article 37.4 of the contract. The dispute arose with the fi rst conversions under the 2010-2015 contract, when management converted part-time regulars and parttime fl exibles to full time and placed them in Non-Traditional Full-Time work assignments of less than 40 hours per week. The APWU asserted that the employees should have been assigned to available residual vacancies, positions that remained open at the completion of the voluntary bidding process. The settlement endorsed the union’s position.