Raise Your Voice

It’s been a while so, here’s a long, overdue post:

Public Notice Requirements & Declining Newspaper Circulation

If you read a sampling of the Government Code (not that you’d do it for fun), you will most certainly stumble across some aspect of Public Notice, where either the statute, or any proposed amendment to a statute or a regulation has to be made public, through a newspaper notice/advertisement. I also came across a similar requirement for companies that are involved in class-action lawsuits, where they may not have a customer list of those who may be affected, etc, or, that their universe of customers/interested parties is so large, that the most efficient way to reach them is to advertise in the major newspaper of that market. (How’s that for a long, sentence in semi-legalese?)

This, coupled with recent reports about declining circulation of major dailies, got me thinking about the efficacy of this medium for the purpose of notice. Back in the day, pre-internet, the newspaper was the only place to be informed about such happenings. Now, however, the number of people that rely solely on newspapers for their information is declining, and rapidly in some age-groups, mostly younger age-groups, in my opinion. (Although, without having the time or resources to dig into a report or analysis saying something similar, I would venture to suggest that this is the current trend.) Not only is the medium through which people get their news fragmented (exploding internet news sites, cable, satellite, broadcast tv, streaming media directed to phones, radio, etc.,), but newspaper circulation is also at its darkest time in its history. (Someone once made an interesting analogy, comparing the obsoleteness of newspapers with the obsoleteness of the law firm billing model, but suggested that neither is going to change drastically in a short period of time.) Check out this link from the Sacramento Business Journal, http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/10/26/daily7.html, about plummeting circulation numbers. Don’t forget to note the possibility that while overall circulation is down, if you compare declines by age-group, you would probably find a more telling story about older vs. younger generations and their preferences for different media.

Now that we have all this background, here’s the point – is a “public notice” requirement in newspapers obsolete? Further, if it is obsolete, is there any other medium that is more suited for widespread dissemination to enable the public to gain notice about matters affecting its rights?

I’m sure people will argue that newspapers still have a vast majority of readers, particularly those who would go to newspapers specifically for this kind of information. I’m sure most defendants would argue that too, because suddenly, their burden of notifying the public will be more weighty and expensive, perhaps. But still, does reaching out to a fraction of an “interested” population through a newspaper advertisement qualify that you have met the requirements for notifying the public about potential changes to their rights? Are we just paying lip service to this function of “notice” by carrying on old traditions that do not serve their purpose anymore?

Secondly, is the internet a better-suited mechanism for “public notice”? It’s also equally fragmented. It’s much more private (yes, an oxymoron!), but the privacy of opening a web page from your own space (home, office, phone, tv, wherever!) lends to a more uncensored ideological/philosophical leaning, I would think. So, I’m assuming those who lean left, never (or infrequently, perhaps) visit right-wing news sites or blogs, and vice-versa. Maybe a non-profit organization will pop-up soon, if it hasn’t already that will be a “public notice center.org” by State, that will perhaps be the new equivalent. But can you imagine that text in a regulation or statute? I’m assuming here’s how it will read, “Department has to put up a notice on ‘public notice center.org’ or its equivalent, for a period of 45-60 days, with an opportunity for the public to respond. Public hearings will be held within 3 weeks…” and so on and so forth. That would be a first… I wonder if this change will come about in my lifetime.

I did see something close, though, albeit, with the newspaper as the conduit. The Sacramento Bee had an article recently about how the Re-districting Commission was accepting applications from citizens for the Committee and it directed readers to their website. (As an aside, I urge all residents of California to apply and participate in this process, see http://www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov/.) But still, it was the newspaper that directed people to it. How would the average citizen learn about it if the Sac Bee, even with its dwindling circulation didn’t carry it?

Public comments appreciated…

# posted by Jaybad @ 5:26 PM 3 comments