By Ron McWhirter

It is with reluctance that I must announce that the subscription price for the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper will be increasing to $20 per year for our four quarterly editions. Our last subscription price increase – from $12 to $15 – occurred in 2013. Over the past 12 years we have experience many increased costs, especially during the high inflationary period during the Biden administration the last four years.

Many publications have succumbed to the increased costs of printing, and especially postage. The United States Postal Service (USPS) bumped up their prices 15 times since our last subscription price increase. The price of a First-Class stamp increased over that time from 49 cents to 78 cents. Half of those price jumps occurred in the last four years with the prices sometimes changing twice annually.

A major factor driving the postal price hikes has been a decline in mail volume. Since 2007, the number of mailed items has decreased by 68%. This decline is attributed to the rise of digital communication methods, such as email and social media, which have significantly reduced reliance on traditional mail services. The USPS offset the financial losses resulting from the lower volume of mail through price adjustments. And the increased cost of fuel and other items impacted the USPS like other entities.

The latest USPS price changes took effect on July 13, 2025. This last increase was especially troublesome and was “the straw that broke the camel’s back,” as the saying goes. The new rates included a 5-cent increase in the price of a First-Class stamp which went from 73 cents to 78 cents. On average, the latest changes raised mailing prices 7.4%. We do use a lot of First-Class stamps – we purchase those in rolls of 100 – to send out subscription renewal notices. But our largest postal expense is mailing the newspaper.

Marketing Mail (formerly called Bulk Mail) is the method we use. That involves sorting and bundling mail into categories based on zip codes. And if you have enough mail going to the same, or a group of zip codes, you get a discount because it reduces the processing that the USPS must do. With the latest increase, the rate for many of the postal zone categories went up more than the average. In addition, there was a change in how mail for the eastern part of Oklahoma was handled which resulted in an even larger increase.

Last year there was a big uproar when the USPS announced it was planning to shut down the Tulsa Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC). When we sorted and bundled mail to be shipped directly to the Tulsa P&DC, we received a discount. They later backed off from closing the facility, but said its operations would be changing. It would remain open, but transformed into a Local Processing Center (LPC) and outgoing operations transferred to the Oklahoma City P&DC.

When we mailed our Summer edition, we discovered this meant that the mailing going to the eastern part of Oklahoma would not receive the discount since the Tulsa P&DC no longer exists, and the mail would be treated the same as mail going to another state. In theory, the mail would go to the regional facility in Dallas and then find its way to Tulsa and the eastern part of the state. As a side note, that is how mail for the Oklahoma Panhandle has been handled. Again, in theory, that mail goes to Dallas, then to Kansas, and then to the Oklahoma Panhandle.

In reality, we discovered we could mark the mailing trays going to the eastern part of Oklahoma to go to the new Tulsa LPC, rather than labeling it for Dallas, but we no longer get the discount. So, the net effect of the recent price increase and no longer getting a discount for the mail to the eastern part of the state, is that we saw a 15% increase in mailing cost.

On the other side of the ledger, we have recently experienced a decline in newspaper renewals. I was concerned when we did the last price increase 12 years ago, that we would experience a drop in subscriptions. Fortunately, that did not happen, and the increased price put us on a positive footing. I have noticed many of the recent non renewals are subscribers that have been with us for decades. Sadly, some may have passed away, or we sometimes get notes that they are not renewing because their failing eyesight keeps them from being able to read articles. And I am sure that some of the drop off can be attributed to financial constraints resulting from the economic policies of the Biden administration. In any event, I hope our subscribers will be able to continue to support us in our mission. And, it is through the donations of some of our subscribers that enabled us to continue in recent years. There is a place on the renewal form to enable you to do that.

The Oklahoma Constitution newspaper has no paid staff. All of our writers are volunteers and contribute their work. The two owners of the newspaper – Steve Byas and myself – are not rewarded financially for our efforts. In fact, over the past two years we have had to dip into our own pockets when there was a shortfall.

Our subscription price will increase to $20 per year starting with our Winter 2026 edition which will be published at the end of January. In the meantime, you can continue to subscribe or renew your subscription early at the current $15 rate. Please use the subscription form on the back page.