The Indiana Publisher

Frequently, newspaper executives will share their frustrations – the same that I have – over the lack of appre- ciation for the newspaper's role in public notices. It all seems so simple to us, who live and breathe newspa- pers. How could anyone think government websites would be a better system? Rep. Kevin Mahan, R-Hart- ford City, opened a window to what we fight on a constant basis with comments he made as chair of the Interim Commit- tee on Government Wednesday. Commentary that he prefaced as the type of comments that can get a legislator in trouble. That's not my intent because I believe Rep. Mahan supports newspapers. He's a former carrier, building his route from 35 to 80 subscriptions as a child. He currently subscribes to six local publications. As a legislator, I've found him to be fair and willing to hear all sides of an issue. He's respected in his caucus and chairs the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee, where he says legislation involving public notices has been filed in nearly, if not all, of his sessions as its chair. I would be comfortable dealing with 150 legislators who approached issues simi- larly to Kevin Mahan. This resume would make one think he should always be in the YES column when it comes to supporting the majority of Hoosiers who desire that public notice advertising remain in newspapers. But now look through that window he verbally opened Wednesday. He talked about how reader- ship of newspapers is probably going down. He said four of the six publications he gets are weeklies and one of the dailies has dropped its Monday edition. "They've done away with the local, feel-good stories," he said of many papers, but not neces- sarily his local newpapers. He said a local joke was one need be careful or they could die, be embalmed, and buried before the obituary was printed in the weekly newspaper. "In my community, if you want to get the news out, put it on Facebook," said the former sheriff, now insurance agent. Wednesday, he expressed his frustration with legislators, who come up to him and say "We have to stop this monopoly that forces us to print," but then back away from a vote to eliminate public notices because they fear backlash from editorials or letters to the editor accusing them of being against government transparency. And while HSPA's commit- tee testimony last month went through the vast number of Hoosier newspaper readers compared to government website visitors, Hoosiers' desire for published public notices, the statistical reader- ship drop that would occur with government website postings, the one bit of our testimony that Kevin mentioned Wednes- day was that when we replied to a question that - yes, some newspapers would close their doors if public notice advertis- ing was eliminated. That was the springboard for his comment that newspapers write about special interests influence on the legislature and our fight for public notice advertising was a "special interest." And he used the words that associations representing local government entities have used for decades to describe public notice advertising – an "unfunded mandate." After the hearing, I reminded him of how the pressure to eliminate public notice adver- tising always arises from government officials – the bureaucracy that deals with public notices - not citizens. His reply was that he sees mayors as representatives of the public. So what do all these com- ments mean from someone who is an avid newspaper reader? It means Indiana newspapers must constantly educate the public, local government officials and state government officials on the value and importance of public notices. We constantly must rein- force the idea that the Public Notice Advertising Law is just as important to government transparency as the Open Door Law and Access to Public Records Act. We constantly must reinforce the four vital elements of public notice: independent, accessible, verifiable, and archivable. We must educate public on the importance of public notices September 2018 Page 11 www.newspaperconsultants.com | 910-323-0349 | info@newspaperconsultants.com "Your team did everything you said you'd do (and more) when you were pitching us. That's rare for a vendor - we felt more like partners, and that's much appreciated." Scott Rosenburgh, Observer-Dispatch Boost your annual advertising revenue with a new or existing TV magazine! We constantly must reinforce the four vital elements of public notice: independent, accessible, verifiable, and archivable. Key Points Steve Key

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