To anyone who says, “Newspapers are dead,” I say, “Sit at my desk the Monday after the post office sends a bundle of newspapers to Fort Worth by mistake.”
I say, “Answer my phone when someone has a neighbor whose dog ate their paper.”
I say, “Do my job when someone forgot to renew their subscription on time and, all of a sudden, realized they didn’t get their paper that week.”
The latter two incidents are far more common than the former, but they all occur from time to time. When they do, I field calls from frustrated readers looking for their paper.
Though I never want folks to miss their paper, I get encouraged by the number of people who really do miss their newspaper.
Community newspapers are more vital than ever to ensuring the public’s right to know. They are an integral pillar of conversation and discourse and serve a role vital to the exercise of a free democracy.
Alas, the Texas Legislature is in session again and — again — there are more attacks on the public’s right to know by attempting to circumvent the public notice requirements in newspapers.
We’ve heard the excuses before; generally, politicians make these three arguments:
“1. Nobody reads newspapers anymore.
2. Since nobody reads newspapers, nobody reads public notices.
3. Public notices are an expensive inconvenience and an unfair subsidy for newspapers.”
Rep. Pat Curry (R-Waco) seems to agree. He has authored HB 1080.
Although this bill would still allow newspapers as an option for notices, government officials could select an alternative to newspapers including Facebook, governmental websites, school newspapers, neighborhood newsletters, free-distribution shoppers and utility bills.
On the surface, this may sound feasible— but it is another flawed attempt to curtail the public’s right to know.
Authors of bills like these seem to forget the plight of lack of broadband access in rural areas.
Many communities served by local newspapers do not have access to rural broadband internet.
Those that do have high poverty levels that make connectivity unattainable for folks who can otherwise afford an annual subscription to their community newspaper.
Simply posting something to the county website does not guarantee the public will be able to see it.
Can we really trust a Facebook algorithm to reach our intended audience?
Neighborhood newsletters do not carry the same legal standard of publication as do professional newspapers.
Another such effort was derailed several years ago after the Grayson County Commissioners Court — along with others across the state — passed a proclamation in opposition to any such legislation that would repeal or amend newspaper public notice standards.
They agreed the idea of eliminating notices from newspapers is dangerous.
Such abolitions of newspaper public notices appeal to some officials for three reasons they’d never admit:
1. Notices in newspapers absolutely DO get noticed by citizens.
2. Sometimes those public notices make voters mad.
3. When they get mad, those voters give officials an earful.
Life is much easier when they can do things without anyone noticing, and newspaper notices make it impossible to be invisible. If you’re a public official, public notices can be inconvenient.
When it comes down to it, the newspaper public notice is still a bargain that works well in print.
This is both a business issue and personal issue for me. I am a proud owner and publisher of my hometown Texas newspaper.
My family is dedicated to continuing the legacy of exceptional community journalism that dates to 1877.
I am also a full-time journalism instructor at Tarleton State University where I serve as faculty adviser of a 105-year-old student newspaper.
If you believe newspapers are dead, stop by my classroom and argue that point with the next generation of brilliant young journalists who are chomping at the bit to do work that matters in their communities.
I am also the director of the Texas Center for Community Journalism where we work with community media companies across the state. We are embedded with the folks doing the hard work in their communities day-in-and-day-out.
So, yeah, it’s personal for me. But it’s also professional and just plain right.
I consider a vote to eliminate newspaper notices to be a vote against me personally.
It is a vote against my hometown, your hometown and the thousands of hometowns across the state being served well by vibrant community newsrooms.
It is a vote against the communities I have the privilege of serving and the students we are entrusting to take over for us soon.
Eliminating newspaper notices is an affront to a business that’s been a civic pillar for your community for longer than any of us have been on this earth. That’s a fact none of us can be cavalier about.
As of press time, we expect the Texas House Intergovernmental Affairs Committee to decide next Wednesday whether to approve HB 1080 or kill it.
According to house.texas.gov, the committee is chaired by Cecil Bell and Erin Zwiener.
Committee members include Sheryl Cole, Phillip Cortez, Cassandra Garcia Hernandez, Terri Leo Wilson, David Lowe, Shelley Luther, Jon E. Rosenthal, David Spiller and Carl Tepper.
If you know any of these folks, please reach out and tell how much your community newspaper means to you. Let them know how much you rely on them as your only sources for public notices and community information.
Please ask them to not assault your right to know what your elected officials are up to.
Austin Lewter is the owner and publisher of the Whitesboro News-Record; instructor of journalism and broadcast at Tarleton State University; faculty adviser of the Texan News Service and JTAC newspaper; and director of the Texas Center for Community Journalism. He can be reached at [email protected].