Whoa, these are the heads who'd been distributing giant robot for the last while. Luckily, they struck a partnership fairly recently and we're taken care of, but over all this is bad news. I hope I didn't pay for my membership, and if you did, that sucks. Again, it's an example of us working with the nice small people and maybe getting screwed by them. This actually blows.


Dear IPA members,

We are very sorry to report that the Independent Press Association has ceased operations, effective immediately. We have taken this action because we have been unable to raise the funds necessary to continue ongoing operations and to resolve our debt to Indy Press Newsstand Services publishers. Ultimately, we were unable to overcome the toll of the ongoing deficits incurred by the newsstand operation. Because of this, the IPA board voted to shut down operations in order to liquidate the assets of the organization and distribute the resulting funds fairly to all of IPA's creditors.

While very painful, we believe that this step is in the best interests of Indy Press publishers and our other creditors, and therefore is in keeping with the mission of the IPA. Indy Press publishers who are owed money by the IPA should be contacted shortly by the firm to whom the IPA has assigned its assets. If you would like more information about this process, please contact the assignee, Uecker & Associates, at suecker@ueckerassoc.com.

In 2006, we struck a strategic partnership with Disticor Newsstand Services to assume responsibility for distributing Indy Press Newsstand titles. Fortunately, publishers' distribution agreements will survive the shut-down of the IPA, so independent publishers should continue to have a committed partner in Disticor to support their ongoing distribution efforts. Disticor expects to assume responsibility for marketing Indy Press titles, and Disticor customer service representatives should be in touch with Indy Press publishers soon regarding their marketing and distribution plans.

Starting in fall 2006, the IPA began exploring options for three of the organization's charitable programs: The IPA New York Grassroots Media Project; the George Washington Williams Fellowship; and the Campus Journalism Project. IPA NY staff and volunteers are in the process of a transition toward establishing that program as an independent nonprofit organization with the same mission of serving New York City's ethnic and community press. IPA staffers have also been working on relaunching the George Washington Williams Fellowship and Campus Journalism Project under a separate, independent umbrella. We are hopeful that both these efforts will succeed, and encourage you to support them in whatever way you can.

In 2001, IPA entered a very harsh newsstand market and attempted for five years to provide an effective alternative for independent publishers to get the kind of distribution services commonly enjoyed by large, mainstream magazines. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to make it work in such a difficult climate.

The board is extremely sad that the IPA has had to close shop and that the organization can no longer play its important role in the independent press sector. But we have enormous faith in the power of independent ideas and are confident that independent publishers will continue to publish, survive, and even thrive as long as there are citizens who care about freedom of speech and thought.

With very best wishes for the future,

IPA Board of Directors