Who needs toothpaste anyway...

I like ‘The Nation’. If I wasn’t a destitute college student unable to afford toothpaste with access to the online version, I may even consider having it sent to our remote hamlet of Ithaca. The only problem is that publications like The Nation are constantly being put at risk of extinction, making me wary of parting with my money for a monthly subscription.

The plan by United States Postal Service to charge more for delivery of smaller magazines threatened to increase their costs and potentially push them out of the market. What makes the actions of this ‘necessary evil’ incredibly evil is that larger publications that fall under Time Warner ownership will not be threatened in the same way. One of the pitfalls of privatization of formerly government entities is that they become self-sustaining, and take on more of a corporate mentality that doesn’t look out for the public interest (or college students who want to enrich their minds but need to buy ramen to survive).

Similarly, the semi-hostile takeover of five indy weeklies by the Hartford Courant is a prime example of another threat to independents. When you’re a small publication with an equally small bank account, you can easily be swallowed up by the bigger journalistic fish. The fact that the Hartford Advocate is now owned by its former nemesis the Courant is an ironic twist in a sad takeover tale. And although those at the Advocate say they’ll still make fun of the Hartford ‘Not-So-Current’, someone has to be just a little bit scared that one wrong move (or overly obnoxious editorial) will incite the owners to pull the plug on their publication.

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t even need independent media because the mainstream media would do their job properly. But if you’ve watched Fox News lately, you’ll know that’s not the case. So in this less perfect scenario, indys will just have to keep on trucking and hope that their loyal followers support them (and that college students would rather have cavities).