EDITORIAL: Proposed public notice modernization is step in wrong direction for local taxpayers

Legacy print newspapers receive thousands in taxpayer funds each year while covering less and less news. The funds come through required legal notices which, according to Pennsylvania law, can only be published in print newspapers “of general circulation.”

All while these same papers cover less and less of your communities.

Now, state lawmakers and lobbyists want to make it even easier for these print papers to keep receiving what is effectively a local government subsidy while providing even less.

House Bill 1291, introduced by Rep. Robert Freeman (D-Northampton), would update the Newspaper Advertising Act “to address recent technological changes in the newspaper industry.”

It would still require public notices to be published in a print newspaper, if one exists, but it would allow notices to be published in a digital newspaper — effectively a digital replica of what would be a print newspaper — or a free newspaper if that digital paper doesn’t exist.

The digital newspaper “would be an online newspaper formatted similarly to a printed newspaper which must meet specific statutory criteria regarding its purpose and its ties to the community or be a digital descendant of a printed newspaper,” according to Freeman’s sponsorship memo.

In an age before the internet, it made sense that agencies and other parties were required to post public notice of meetings and significant actions in the local print newspaper. This worked for many decades while competition in the print newspaper market remained strong, but today with a greatly diminished printed press, public notices are best known by municipal leaders, lawyers, and residents for price gouging and pitiful customer service.

For example, on Monday, the Sentinel was the only local news source at municipal meetings in Shenandoah and East Union Township. In April, East Union spent $1,350.94 on advertising in the Hazleton Standard~Speaker. All taxpayer funds.

The Sentinel and similar online outlets statewide — pioneers in local digital journalism — are nearly covered by the new definitions, if not for the protectionist definition. Effectively, the bill — which is backed by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association — attempts to keep public notice revenue to legacy media organizations.

Under the current law — and still with the proposed updates — municipalities like Shenandoah and East Union Township are forced to use one company for public notices, as the Standard~Speaker and Pottsville Republican-Herald are owned by the same company.

What taxpayer would want local governments forced to choose the more expensive, less valuable option due to a historical quirk that one title used to be in print and another didn’t? Taxpayers deserve better. PNA leadership has said “it is your right to know the plan for how your hard-earned taxpayer dollars might be spent.” It is also your right to make sure those taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently. HB 1291 continues to try to protect the newspaper monopoly when there is no longer a reason for it other than for the newspaper lobbyists.

This measure will continue to inflate the price of public notices by preventing competition and propping up archaic companies – many of which are owned by big out-of-state corporations and hedge funds that suck money from local economies as they cut staff and lay off reporters. I.e., the money Shenandoah spends isn’t allowing for a reporter to cover our communities.

Any revision to the Newspaper Advertising Act must embrace the free market principles at America’s core and allow online-only and free newspapers to compete. If HB 1291 was amended to allow free newspapers and online-only newspapers to compete regardless of whether there was a printed newspaper or a “digital newspaper” descendent, it would unlock a new era of competition for public notices, increase access, and drive down prices.

The State House Local Government Committee is expected to consider the bill this month. Legislators, please do not make a costly 50-year mistake by giving these legacy titles an indefinite monopoly over public notices in their local markets simply because they once used ink while outlets like the Sentinel have always used pixels. We urge the Local Government Committee to consider the above proposed amendment and if necessary hold hearings so that they can explore the issues at stake and guide policy in a direction that would best serve not only Pennsylvania taxpayers, but our democracy. Sentinel readers, if you agree that more competition would be a good thing for public notices, please let your state legislators know your thoughts by emailing them today:

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The Shenandoah Sentinel

The Shenandoah Sentinel is northern Schuylkill County’s news source, covering news and sports in and around Shenandoah, Ashland, Mahanoy City, Frackville, Nuremberg, and the surrounding areas.

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