The Michigan Press Association defended itself well in a story over Michigan House Bill 4183, which would require that public notices be published solely online. The bill was postponed on June 18 and has not been taken up since.
Crain’s Detroit Business examined the bill – and how it would affect newspapers and other media sources in the state – in a well-balanced July 5 story. Among other things, the story noted that the bill’s opponents cite “a large swath of the state without reliable Internet or cellphone service” and that “some townships and small cities, especially in rural areas, have rudimentary websites and older populations that still rely on newspapers for information.”
PNRC Names Pennsylvania Reporter Public Notice Journalism Award Winner
Jim Lockwood, staff writer for The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pennsylvania, is the winner of the 2015 Public Notice Journalism Award. Lockwood is recognized for his deft incorporation of public notice information into his coverage of local government.
The award will be presented March 19 at the National Press Club.
A second-place award for 2015 will go to the Monroe County Reporter, Forsyth, Georgia, for team reporting on a school district’s attempts to acquire property by condemnation, over the landowner’s opposition. The district wanted to build a Fine Arts Center on the site, a project it eventually abandoned in the face of public opposition. The public notice figured into the story when the school board advertised its condemnation plans.
Sony hack ‘would have challenged even state government’
The high-profile cyberattack on Sony would have challenged almost any cyber security measures, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has said. An FBI investigation calls the level of sophistication of the software used by the hackers “extremely high” and the attacks “organized and certainly persistent.”
Joe Demarest, assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, told the Senate Banking Committee that “the malware that was used would have gotten past 90 percent of the Net defenses that are out there today in private industry and [would have been] likely to challenge even state government.” His comments were officially confirmed later by the FBI.
Census Report Shows 25% of Americans Lack Internet Access
A recently-released report from the United States Census Bureau reports that more than 25% of American households remain without an internet connection in their home. Data from 2013 shows that 74.4% of American households use the internet, with 73.4% reporting a high speed internet connection.
The study, Computer and Internet Use in the United States: 2013, reports that household computer ownership and Internet use were most common in homes with relatively young householders, in households with Asian or White householders, in households with high incomes, in metropolitan areas, and in homes where householders reported relatively high levels of educational attainment.
New Book Explains How Public Notice Protects Integrity of Storage-Unit Auctions
Consumer and public safeguards in 46 states require operators of self-storage facilities to notify the public in a local newspaper before offering a renter’s goods for an auction after a default. But pressure on legislatures to eliminate this requirement have caused a handful of states to leave the notification requirement to the facility owners.
The Public Notice Resource Center’s (PNRC) new book, “Public Notice in Self-Storage: a winner for consumers, the industry and the public interest,” explains in detail the background and basis for the public notice. The book makes a solid case that when facility owners are left unregulated to set up their own auctions, advertise them as they wish and dispose of property, the public and consumers are the losers.
S.D. Newspaper Receives First Public Notice Journalism Award
Seth Tupper, publisher of the Mitchell (S.D.) Daily Republic, right, received his newspaper’s national Public Notice Journalism Award at the National Newspaper Association’s Leadership Summit at the National Press Club in Washington on March 13. Presenting the award was PNRC President Bradley L. Thompson II, chairman and CEO of the Detroit Legal News.
Bob Schieffer, long-time Washington correspondent for CBS News, lauded the Republic‘s work during his keynote speech at NNA’s Leadership Summit. Bob Schieffer, long-time Washington correspondent for CBS News, lauded the Republic’s work during his keynote speech at NNA’s Leadership Summit. Read South Dakota Newspaper Association general manager Dave Bordewyk’s column about the award and Schieffer’s mention of the newspaper.
PNRC Names First National Public Notice Journalism Award Winner
The Mitchell (S.D.) Daily Republic has been named the first recipient of the PNRC’s national Public Notice Journalism Award for 2014. The newspaper is recognized for a series inaugurated by an alert reader who spotted a payment by a local school board in a public notice. The reader’s tip to the newspaper led to a protracted open records lawsuit by the newspaper against the school district. The conclusion: the revelation of a $175,000 severance agreement with a former school superintendent that otherwise would not have reached the readers’ attention.
The award will be presented March 13 at the National Press Club. Republic editor Seth Tupper will receive the award on behalf of the newspaper.
Consumers Trust Print Advertising More than Online
Consumers trust newspaper advertising over online advertising, finds a recent report by the Nielsen Company.
The report, Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages, found that traditional newspaper advertising is among the most trusted forms of paid advertising. The survey was conducted in early 2013 and polled 29,000 internet respondents from across the globe.
As newspapers face renewed efforts in 2014 to pull public notices from newspapers onto the Web, it is crucial for legislators to understand the importance of newspapers as a trusted source of content for consumers.
Arkansas Pig Lot Raises Stink with Legal, but Insufficient, Notice
Residents of Mt. Judea, Ark., were surprised to learn recently that their peaceful community is about to become host to a hog farm that will house up to 6,503 hogs. Residents of the town, through a coalition of environmental groups, say that while notices about the development of the C&H Hog Farm may have been legally sufficient, few in town knew about the approval processes.
PNRC Criticizes Tennessee Open Meetings Notice Requirements
Tennessee newspapers are the most viable medium for public notices in the state, but the citizens cannot be fully informed if the notice requirements for public meetings do not mandate sufficient information to be meaningful, the Public Notice Resource Center (PNRC) told the Tennessee Court of Appeals for the Middle District of Tennessee in February.
PNRC filed an amicus brief in Fisher v. Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission, a review of an appeal by a citizens group, who protested the building of an Islamic Center in a rural area near Murfreesboro, TN. The notice of the Planning Commission’s meeting to review the center’s proposed site plan was published in the Murfreesboro Post, but did not provide an agenda, nor give any indication that the Commission planned to act on the center’s proposal.