NNA Directors meet with Postal Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C.

Tonda Rush

Apr 1, 2019

Washington, D.C. — In meetings March 13-15, NNA directors discussed the state of the newspaper industry with four members of the Postal Regulatory Commission. The PRC oversees USPS pricing and service standards. The directors explained to the commissioners how they use the mail and offered some observations on service performance in a cross section of the country.

Pictured L to R: Region 9 Director Brett Wesner, president of Wesner Publications, San Francisco, California; Government Relations Committee Chair Matthew Paxton, publisher of The News-Gazette in Lexington, Virginia; President Andrew Johnson, publisher of the Dodge County Pionier in Mayville, Wisconsin; Vice President Matt Adelman, publisher of the Douglas (Wyoming) Budget; Region 1 Director Jeanne Straus, president and publisher of Straus News in Chester, New York; and Treasurer Michael Fishman, publisher of the Citizen Tribune in Morristown, Tennessee.

PRC commissioners and staff pictured L to R: Commissioners Nanci Langley, Michael Kubiyanda, Tony Hammond and Mark Acton; and Kenneth Moeller with the Commission’s Office of Accountability and Compliance. Not pictured: Ann Fisher, director of the office of public affairs and governmental relations, the newest nominee to the commission.

NNA Director of Government Relations Tonda Rush chats with Ann Fisher, director of public affairs and government relations, Postal Regulatory Commission. Commissioner Tony Hammond is pictured in background.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D–Md., chairman of the House Committee on Reform, received the Sunshine in Government Award March 8 from the News Media for Open Government organization, of which the National Newspaper Association is a member. NMOG Executive Director Melissa Wasser presented the award, which is given only periodically to public servants who defend Freedom of Information. Cummings was recognized for a career in Congress defending the Freedom of Information Act. The same week, he led a bipartisan effort to question the Department of Interior’s efforts to make FOIA requests more difficult.