Print is still the most effective platform for public notice but declining circulation and newspaper closures have put newspaper notice in peril. In 2025, two state press associations are promoting bills designed in part to avoid the kind of crises that erupted last year in Minnesota and New Jersey when newspaper chains in those states shuttered papers that had served as their communities’ only source of official notice.
One of the most far-reaching efforts to prepare for the future is being advanced by the Oklahoma Press Association. OPA supports two bills that together:
- Expand the number of papers eligible to publish official notice
‘Devastating’ public notice bill debated in Pennsylvania
A hearing was held last week in Pennsylvania on House Bill 955, which would provide local governments in the state with the option to move their notices from paid-circulation newspapers to government websites or government-printed publications, newspaper websites, free-circulation newspapers, legal newspapers or shoppers.
The hearing was notable for the breadth of issues it addressed and the emphasis the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association placed on the economic impact the bill would have on local newspapers in the state if it passes.