Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Why we should keep public notices in newspapers

The stated goal of SB208 is to expand the availability of public notices and save consumers money. However, it fails on both counts.

Availability will decrease if public notices are only on the Web
By removing notices from newspapers and putting them a state Web site actually reduces the availability to large part of the population. Therefore, to reach the largest possible audience the Utah Press Association believes that so-called legal notices should be both in Utah’s newspapers and on the Web.

Utah newspapers have acted in cooperation with lawmakers to develop technology and advertising to further online public notices
For the past two years, with the agreement of former Senate President John Valentine and Sen. Dennis Stowell, R-Parowan, Utah's newspapers have developed a new centralized Web site that is now in beta testing. Also, for several years we have maintained and continue to maintain, utahlegalnotices.com. Both of these Web sites have been searchable by key words. The new Web site will be RSS feed capable and a fully searchable database of statewide public notices. One will also be able to subscribe to e-mail feeds on a particular key word. We believe that we have developed one of the most sophisticated legal notice Web sites in the United States. The Utah Press Association has pledged to create an advertising campaign that would help citizens better understand and access public notices

The number of Utah newspaper readers is growing
A 10-year analysis of the state’s daily newspapers shows a 1 percent gain over those years. The Provo Daily Herald has had a 28 percent increase in circulation over the past 10 years. The Standard-Examiner is among the 10 fastest growing newspapers in the country. Furthermore, Utah newspapers have more readers than ever through their Web operations. Let’s keep both notices available to both print and online users. While lawmakers may have heard about the problems with the newspaper industry, those are a result of a poor economy and loss of ad revenues, not of lack of readers.


Other problems with Internet-only public notice
Those without computers will not see public notices. Large segments of society lack the means to purchase a computer or to pay for regular Internet access.

How great the savings?
The government has a fundamental responsibility to ensure adequate notification to the public of its actions. That responsibility cannot be abandoned in favor of presumed cost savings. Furthermore, these savings may prove to be elusive in light of a decrease in effective public notice, and the additional funds that must be allocated to the creation or maintenance of a government Web site. Already the state government has spent nearly $200,000 to create and maintain the public meeting notice Web site. There is s bill, HB 323, to add planning documents to the current Web site with a $100,000 fiscal note. There is yet no fiscal note for SB208. Utah Press has created a Web site at no cost to taxpayers.


A tradition of an independent watchdog
As has been the case for centuries, public notice is best served by a third-party, independent source. There should be a be check and balance on government power. In other words, should the fox be watching the henhouse when it comes to legal notices?

Local newspapers are the established medium for public notices – they are where the public expects to find them.

Many seniors would lose access

Placing public notices on the Internet disenfranchises senior citizens. Surveys show that only 29 percent of adults over the age of 65 go online (Pew Research Center, 2006). A recent study by American Demographics found that 78 percent of Americans over the age of 65 get their news from newspapers, while only 12 percent look to the Internet for news. Senior citizens are also among the most politically active citizens and thus are most likely to take advantage of public notices.


Placing public notices on the Internet disenfranchises minority citizens.

Both African-Americans (56 percent) and Hispanics (52 percent) are below the national average in Internet penetration and are expected to remain well under the national average for many years to come. (Jupiter Research, 2005)

Placing public notices on the Internet disenfranchises the poor.

Demographic research shows 94 percent of citizens earning of income of $75,000 per year are Internet users. However, only 54 percent of those who make less that $30,000 use the Internet. (Pew Research Center, 2006)

Placing public notices on the Internet disenfranchises rural citizens.

Internet access in rural areas is consistently 10 percent below the national average, studies show. Furthermore, rural residents are less likely to have access to broadband Internet connections (Pew Research Center, 2006). In Utah, the preference for public notice by many local governments are local newspapers.

SB161

Although not tied to SB208, SB161 was introduced to allow rural papers the right to set legal notice rates the market would bear for 4th and 5th class cities. The bill would strike a rate set in the 1980s. Because of confusion about the intent of the bill, the Utah Press Association board agreed to abandon support for the bill.

Utah Press Association

Joel Campbell

801-362-4298

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