Junk Journalism and the Bogus Postal Statistic

When a respected magazine’s cover story cited a statistic, I used to assume the number had at least some connection to reality. Not any more—not after reading Bloomberg Businessweek’s recent piece on the U.S. Postal Service. Here’s the stat that really stumped me: “In the last quarter of 2010, junk revenue climbed 7.1 percent,” with the added statement, “Unfortunately for the USPS, junk volume has since plateaued.”

Nowhere does the article define “junk mail,” though it uses the phrase liberally. It’s certainly a term you won't find in any USPS reports.

Businessweek’s definition of “junk mail,” however, is apparently Standard-class mail