NNA Buzzword Is 'Lobby' p. 13

By: Tony Case

NNA Buzzword Is 'Lobby' p. 13

National Newspaper Association president says
the days of newspapers hiding from government are gone sp.

AS CONGRESS CONSIDERS legislation affecting telecommunications, postal rates and advertising taxes, newspaper publishers must let their representatives know where they stand, National Newspaper Association president and chief executive Tonda Rush told those attending the organization's annual convention last month in Cincinnati.
The NNA wants to ensure that "every member of Congress has got at least one publisher in his district who is willing and able to pick up the phone and call," she said, adding, "The days of newspapers sort of hiding out from the government and hoping it won't bother us are gone."
Lobbying Congress to prevent the regional Bell operating companies from entering electronic publishing without strict guidelines remains a key goal of NNA, she said, noting that the association probably has more money at stake in that battle than in any other.
The country's community newspapers ? 4,000 of which are represented by Washington-based NNA ? were early users of new technology, such as desktop publishing, Rush said. She expects the papers will find viable ways to enter electronic publishing as well.
But she warned, "We're going to have to begin working on some of those things, or we're going to find ourselves left behind in the revolution."
Whatever the future of electronic publishing, Rush said, NNA wants to guarantee that each community paper is offered the same rates and access as the largest competitor in its market.
Association officials fear that larger communications concerns that want to get into the field would cut "high-volume, low-rate" deals with the regional phone companies, in effect shutting out smaller operations, she said. The RBOCs "won't want to mess around with a bunch of little guys."
Rush noted that Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) has supported an amendment to S.1086, the Telecommunications Infrastructure Act of 1993. The Burns amendment calls for strict regulatory guidelines if the RBOCs offer information services.
While NNA is urging Congress to adopt the amendment, the association relies upon member publishers to contact their local politicians, she said.
NNA also has worked with the U.S. Postal Service to ensure better service and stable rates for second-class, third-class and in-county postal customers. NNA wants to make sure that its members don't pay more than their fair share of costs if higher rates are approved.
NNA, as a member of the Advertising Tax Coalition, also opposes changing the deductibility of adver-
tising expenses.
"We're hoping this issue just goes away before it gets to the point that it's seriously being considered," Rush said, adding that NNA will "keep fighting it and fighting it and fighting it."
NNA also has urged the Clinton administration to reevaluate its information policy, Rush said, noting that the association joined five other organizations earlier this year to work toward that goal.
Rush called Attorney General Janet Reno's recent announcement that she would review the Justice Department's information-dissemination policies "great news."