The newspaper industry that existed when public notice laws were originally enacted is a thing of the past. There are fewer newspapers and they have less circulation. The papers are physically smaller and sometimes they’re designed, edited and/or printed at great geographical distances from the local markets in which they circulate. They’re also published electronically with a reach and immediacy that were unprecedented in the pre-internet era.
These changes have made it increasingly difficult for newspapers and government agencies to discharge their responsibilities under public notice laws enacted many decades ago. As a result, state press associations otherwise reluctant to meddle with public notice statutes now may find it necessary to advocate for changes to ensure the laws that determine which papers qualify to publish notices remain relevant.
State press group touts multi-channel infrastructure
If the battle over public notice in state legislatures is framed as “newspapers vs the Internet,” newspapers lose.
The Louisiana Press Association (LPA) has taken that lesson to heart as it prepares for a 2022 legislative session that it’s nervous about. In an attractive two-page flyer that will serve as a leave-behind for meetings with legislators (see flyer below), LPA is taking a new messaging approach by touting its members’ digital prowess in delivering public notice advertising across multiple channels.
Q & A: Beth Bennett, Wisconsin Newspaper Association
In 2016, the Wisconsin legislature created a study committee to “update and recodify” the statute relating to public notice “to reflect technological advances and remove obsolete provisions.” The committee was charged with considering changes to the statute that would “allow for information to be made available only electronically or through nontraditional media outlets.”
The Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA) mounted an impressive effort to convince the committee that newspapers and their websites were still the right place for public notice. The committee met three times and ended its review on Oct. 10, deciding to recommend only one change to a minor category of notices. We spoke with WNA Executive Director Beth Bennett about the process.