COALITION

 

Ms. Martha J. McAteer
Letters Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC  20071

 

Dear Ms. McAteer:

 

John Kelly has every right to dislike direct mail ("You Say Tomato, I Say Junk," April 24), just as growing numbers of ex-subscribers have every right to have left the Post. However, if Mr. Kelly is going to condemn advertising mail, then why not start with the direct mail operations used by the Washington Post Company?

 

According to the Post's most recent annual report filed, it turns out that "most subscriptions" for Newsweek and Budget Travel "are solicited by either first-class or standard A (formerly third-class) mail." If it's okay for the Post to use advertising mail, then why not a local pizza parlor, minority business or hardware store? Why not environmental groups, charities, politicians or unions?

 

Mr. Kelly essentially argues that unsolicited promotions are somehow unacceptable. Has he made this view known to the folks who just started Washington Post Radio? Do they not broadcast unsolicited advertisements? What about the Post Company's TV stations? Will the Post now decline unsolicited ads on its electronic media?

 

Mr. Kelly says there is a difference between newspaper inserts and material sent through the mailstream. He's right. The mailer community has long operated a "do-not-mail" service, but how can one order the Washington Post without inserts? Where is the 800 number for the Post's
"do-not-insert" option?

 

The term "junk mail" seems entirely acceptable to Mr. Kelly precisely because he is not the victim of the bias, prejudice and ignorance it represents. Remarkably, he does not tell readers that the term was created specifically to devalue a rival advertising medium. As the Post itself has reported, "magazines and newspapers have been at war with advertising mailers for a long time -- ever since the mailers began siphoning ad dollars away from publications. Indeed, newspaper editorialists invented the term 'junk mail' in the early 1950s." (The Junk Mail Plague: You Can Run But You Can't Hide,  April 22, 1991)

 

Most importantly, at a time when downsizing is common in too many industries inside our borders, Mr. Kelly does not mention that the mailstream anchors 9 million jobs nationwide -- including 42,784 in the District of Columbia.

 

The next time Mr. Kelly wants to bash ad mailers, let him start with the Post. That only seems fair.

Sincerely,

 

Peter Miller
Executive Director