It was bound to happen again.
Jim Lockwood (pictured on left), a reporter for the Times-Tribune in Scranton, Pa., has been named the 2023 winner of PNRC’s Michael Kramer Public Notice Journalism Award.
The award was announced yesterday as part of the National Newspaper Association Foundation’s 2023 Better Newspaper Editorial Contest. Lockwood previously won the prize in 2015 and came in second place, or tied for second, every year since then except 2022.
The award is given annually to the best reporting that uses public notice as a primary source of information.
Louisiana begins transition to newspaper websites
Last week, Louisiana became the first state to pass a law that will eventually make newspaper websites the primary platform for public notice. HB-650 requires local governments to post their notices on official newspaper websites beginning in 2027. They’ll also be required to publish print notices describing the subject matter and location of the online notices, but — in a reversal of present custom — the print ads will be free and the online notices will be the ads they pay for.
HB-650 passed both houses unanimously and is expected to be signed by Gov. Jon Bel Edwards when it reaches his desk.
Few local governments in South Dakota use state portal to post public information
Jackson County government officials don’t post public information on the internet.
The rural western South Dakota county, which serves roughly 2,800 residents spread over 1,871 square miles, doesn’t have a website.
And it doesn’t intend to, County Auditor Vicki Wilson said.
“It takes more time than we have staff,” she said.
State government offers a potential solution, but Jackson County isn’t using it. Nor are most other South Dakota counties, cities or other local governments.
It’s a website created by the Gov. Kristi Noem administration in 2021 where local governments can voluntarily upload their meeting notices, agendas and minutes, without having to manage their own website.
Don’t hide your online notices!
Most newspapers now publish notices on their website in addition to print, even in states that don’t require it. As we’ve written before, it’s one of the most important things publishers can do to help their state’s press association protect newspaper notice.
However, too many publishers still make it difficult for users to find the notices that are posted on their website. Last week we spotted a perfect illustration of the phenomenon.
The Westerly Sun published an editorial (“In defense of legal notices”) arguing against legislation that has been introduced in Rhode Island’s General Assembly that would allow local governments to publish notices on their websites in lieu of print newspapers. A website visitor quickly added a helpful suggestion in the comments section below the article.
Several eligibility and self-storage bills advance
It’s the time of year when many states have either ended their legislative sessions or are preparing to adjourn sine die in the next month or so. We’ve also passed the point in most states when new bills can be introduced or existing legislation that hasn’t passed out of the body in which it was introduced can be considered in the opposite chamber.
Nevertheless, several noteworthy public notice-related bills we’ve been following did see some movement last month.
Most importantly, bills in Arizona and Iowa authorizing local governments to publish notices on government websites instead of newspapers were significantly amended before they passed their original chambers.
About those Disney notices …
You may have heard that the Walt Disney Co. recently took steps to frustrate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attempt to strip the entertainment conglomerate of its power to appoint members of the board that provides oversight for Disney World.
According to a story published last week in the New York Times, the Disney-appointed Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) Board of Supervisors “quietly pushed through a development agreement” preventing the governor from replacing them with his allies, thereby maintaining Disney’s governance of the world’s largest theme park. The Board proposed the agreement at a public meeting on Jan. 25 and approved it at a follow-up meeting on Feb. 8.
Trends emerge in public notice bills
It used to be a relatively rare event when a bill remedying errors or omissions in public notice advertising was introduced. Or when legislation authorizing newspaper websites or e-editions to substitute for print was proposed. But those types of measures have proliferated in 2023, along with bills designed to fill jurisdictional holes in news deserts, which have been picking up steam for a few years now.
Newspapers battle in 2 states over right to publish notices
Most states require newspapers to have paying subscribers to publish notices but at least a few grant that authority to free-distribution papers as well. Those requirements don’t change very often which is why it’s so unusual to have two states considering legislation this year that would allow free papers to publish notices.
The newspapers supporting the measures in both states were founded by entrepreneurs in communities where the paid-circulation newspapers have experienced multiple rounds of layoffs and cutbacks in recent years. Taking the other side of the debate are the states’ press associations, both of which oppose the bills.
Newspaper notice targeted in multiple states
Bills have been introduced in at least 15 states allowing or requiring official notice to be published on various platforms other than local newspapers. That’s significantly more legislative activity focused on replacing newspaper notice than last year and approaches the level of the previous election off-year of 2021.
What happens after the bill passes?
For over 20 years, newspapers and their state press associations turned back every bill that authorized government units to issue public notice via their own websites instead of local newspapers. That winning streak ended last year when the Florida legislature gave state agencies and local governments the option to post notices on county websites.
The new law, which took effect on Jan. 1, has one upside. It set in motion a vast experiment that will tell us what local governments do when given this choice. Five weeks into the new year an answer is beginning to emerge: It depends primarily on the motivations of local elected officials and the actions local newspapers take in response to the challenge.