The Hoosier State Press Association has become a service bureau for public notices for the Indiana attorney general’s office. PNRC interviewed HSPA Executive Director Steve Key to learn more about the program.
 
PNRC: Steve, please tell us a little about how the program got started.
 
Steve Key: The Attorney General has the responsibility of notifying the public about unclaimed property, like uncashed dividends, escrow balances or property held by courts and other government agencies. In Indiana, the AG was seeking to eliminate the newspaper publication of unclaimed property lists and to replace them with postings to government websites. 
 
PNRC: What was their motivation?
 
Key: Publishing the list was a burden for them. They had to contact 92 separate newspapers and coordinate the publishing of 92 countywide unclaimed property lists. To say the very least, it wasn’t their core competency. From their perspective, it would have been much easier just to post the list on their website.
 
PNRC: So what happened?
 
Key: It all started with a legislative battle where we were on opposite sides. They tried to eliminate their responsibility to run newspaper ads. We prevailed. Afterwards, we sat down with the AG’s staff and offered to relieve them of their burden. They accepted the offer.
 
PNRC: How does the program work?
 
Key: The AG sends us their lists and HSPA publishes them in regional tabloids for insert in newspapers. The tabloids actually provide greater reach for the listed names and draws greater attention to the public notice advertisements as a stand-alone product than they ever received as ads in the classified section. Originally, the lists were distributed in three flights across the state, so that the AG could coordinate with additional advertising. The response when each flight hit the newspapers was so great, that the AG was forced to hire additional telephone operators to handle the crush of calls. That got their attention.
 
PNRC: What happened next?
 
Key: Over the past few years, the flights have expanded from three to five to smooth out the bump in calls to the AG and to eliminate their need to hire emergency part-time help. The AG is now a supporter of public notice in newspapers. In my view, it’s an example of turning an opponent into a proponent.
 
PNRC: My understanding is that HSPA now also serves as a service bureau for the state Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. Does that program differ in any way from the one with the AG? Can you tell us how?
 
Key: The monthly 92-county ATC meeting notices are merely a placement program for the state agency responsible for coordinating the county hearings. It’s a one-order, one-bill process for the state ATC and they have agreed to pay us a small per notice fee.
 
PNRC: How long have you been doing that program? How is it going so far?
 
Key: We’re into our second year and the ATC attorney recently told me the process is going “great” from their perspective.
 
PNRC: What has been the financial impact of these programs for HSPA? How about your member newspapers?
 
Key: Our members continue to publish the notices and collect the publication revenue. That wouldn’t be true if either the AG or ATC had eliminated the newspaper notice requirement. As to HSPA, we cover our costs with the ATC placements and make a profit from the AG contract — not for the placements, but for the service we do in creating the tabloids and coordinating the printing with one of our member newspapers.
 
PNRC: Have there been any challenges or downside to these programs?
 
Key: Unfortunately, the biggest challenge is with some of our members. We have the occasional newspaper that fails to run the ATC notice when requested, which forces us to scramble to get it run so the meeting doesn’t have to be rescheduled. The second challenge is collecting tearsheets in a timely manner. We’ll have one or two newspapers that don’t send them immediately, which holds up the billing for the month’s 92 placements. That can delay payment from the state, which triggers a credit hold by a newspaper, which requires us to call the publisher to explain the situation so a particular notice can be published on time. 

Customer service can be poor because some papers take public notice advertising for granted and don’t get excited about a $10.50 ad. Unfortunately, they fail to realize that lack of customer service can endanger the entire concept of public notice in newspapers.