Let's not let the facts get in the way of a good story.

My response to this Blog entry....
From Where I Sit

Facts about SB208. BenJoe makes a big deal about the fact that the Trib put up its editorial on legal notices on the Web only first. The paper then followed it up with a printed editorial. Hand it to BenJoe for the spin. Instead of negative spin, I believe it shows that news"papers" get the fact that readers are on the Web and in print. BenJoe wants to make it seem that only bloggers know how to communicate online. The fact is, newspaper readership is larger than ever because of the online and paper components. What proponents of SB208 want to do is put in on the web only. Its an elitist and exclusive argument. Why not use both? Senators this week have been saying that society is not ready to go to Web only notices. Maybe someday, but not yet.

Second point. BenJoe's linking SB208 with SB161 shows he hasn't spent any effort to find out the facts. SB161 only deals with very small entities -- 4th and 5th class cities. Its effect would be small. The 20-year-old cap has a disproportionate effect on small rural newspapers. No such statutory cap exists on what larger newspapers charge for legals from larger entities. That said, newspapers have frozen their rates for the past 6-7 years and charge even less than non-profit rates.

I happy to talk to anyone who really desires the facts.

Thanks,
Joel Campbell
foiguy@gmail.com
801-362-4298