A woman walks past signs set up in front of a bust of former Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon outside the Indiana Senate chambers at the Statehouse during Newspaper Advocacy Day on Wednesday. O’Bannon was the publisher of The Corydon Democrat, a southern Indiana newspaper, before he entered political life.
Leeann Doerflein | Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS — Dozens of newspaper stakeholders gathered Wednesday at the Indiana Statehouse to advocate against potential changes to public notices.
Publishers, editors, reporters, advertising staff and even subscribers attended a newspaper advocacy day at the Indiana Statehouse. The goal of the day, a first for Indiana newspapers, was to show the vibrancy of Indiana newspapers, and that newspapers are “alive, thriving and employing Hoosiers while also serving Hoosiers,” said Amelia McClure, executive director of the Hoosier State Press Association, a trade association representing more than 130 newspapers from around the state.
The event was also designed as a venue for newspaper supporters to express concerns with House Bill 1312, which would make publishing government legal notices in newspapers optional. Instead, the notices would be shifted to a state-run website, putting the burden on Hoosiers to find the notices themselves, instead of having it in the newspaper, McClure and newspaper advocates argue.
“House Bill 1312 will totally change the way newspapers have to do business,” said Steve Swails, general manager of AIM Media Indiana, owner of the Daily Journal.
HSPA, of which the Daily Journal is a member, organized Wednesday’s advocacy day. Staffers and supporters from 40 or 50 newspapers showed up to Wednesday’s advocacy day. Daily Journal staffers were in attendance, as were employees of the Journal’s sister newspapers within AIM Media Indiana.
What the bill does
HB 1312 by Rep. Jennifer Meltzer, R-Shelbyville, would provide four options for advertising a public notice for governments in the first phase, which would begin in July if it is passed in its current form. Those options are a newspaper print edition, a newspaper website, a political subdivision website or the state public notice website.
However, in phases starting with counties 50,000 or under in July 2026, the bill would funnel government public notices to the state’s website. Johnson County would make the shift to the state website in January 2027, when it would be available for counties with a population of 100,000 or greater.
The House of Representatives passed the bill in a 57-36 vote in February, with all but one Johnson County representative voting for it. However, the Senate has not yet voted on the bill. On March 13, the bill came before the Senate Local Government Committee, but was held for a later vote and possible amendments. A vote has not yet been set.
In hearing testimony, Meltzer and several organizations representing municipal and county officials told the committee the bill came about after local government units reported they have struggled to get notices published in a timely fashion in non-daily newspapers. If passed, the bill would allow local officials would use their discretion to place notices where it would most benefit their constituents, they said.
Meltzer said a statewide website would increase transparency, though critics say it could make it harder for people to find their local notices. She also speculates it could yield more bids for local government projects.
Ryan Hoff, of the Association of Indiana Counties, and Rhonda Cook, a lobbyist representing the Indiana County Auditor’s Association, both told the committee the bill would allow their members to publish notices more quickly.
Isabell Elliott, of Accelerate Indiana Municipalities, testified the bill would save municipalities money. She said members believe cutting newspaper public notices will help as they face losing thousands in revenue as a result of the property tax reform bill.
Local governments do spend thousands annually on newspaper notices, but the rates are set by state law. These rates are lower than publications generally charge for other advertisements.
Not the first time
This is not the first time state lawmakers have proposed a bill that would take public notices out of newspapers, but this bill has advanced further than most. McClure says the bill is the latest in a “long line” of bills to that effect.
Over time, as HSPA advocated for or against different changes, McClure has seen the bills change to be against the association’s talking points. A few years ago, lawmakers tried to allow the notices to only be published on local government websites. HSPA argued that public noticing would be fractured, and Hoosiers would have to go from website to website to find all notices that may impact them, McClure said.
Now, lawmakers are looking to put them on a state website. They’ve also started to talk more about expediency, and how HB 1312 would speed up the noticing process for governments. But McClure disagrees with this argument.
“That concerned me because I don’t think that expediency is necessarily how we should govern. We should govern based on efficiency and good government, not what is quickest and cheapest,” she said.
HB 1312 passed the House based on these arguments, McClure said.
Why have an advocacy day
The idea of an advocacy day was formed by Tim Timmons, co-owner of Sagamore News Media, which publishes The Times of Noblesville and The Paper of Montgomery County. Timmons sent emails to regional leaders of major Indiana newspaper groups — CNHI, Paxton Media Group, AIM Media Indiana and Gannett — expressing concern about the bill and how to respond.
Timmons had spoken with his co-owner, former Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville, who said that when issues involving certain groups came up at the Statehouse, a large number of people would show up. Whereas with newspapers, it was typically only a few people. Boots suggested that if newspapers wanted to make a difference, more people should get there, Timmons said.
So the idea was hatched for an advocacy day featuring not just publishers and editors, but also staffers from all levels and community stakeholders. Eventually, the entire HSPA was told of the event.
Dozens of people showed up, and Timmons was not surprised by the turnout.
“It’s a testament to the heart and soul of Indiana newspapers,” Timmons said.
Not just newspaper employees and owners attended, but also readers. One of those is Rick Patrick of Nashville. He came to share his concern about how it could affect his local paper, The Brown County Democrat, a sister newspaper of the Daily Journal. Patrick has subscribed for 25 years and advertised his business with the newspaper for about 20 years.
“I don’t advertise with it anymore but I still subscribe — and I love it,” Patrick said.
Patrick said it’s important to have newspapers to keep track of what’s going on, especially in government. He chose to attend Wednesday’s advocacy day to show his support of newspapers and to let lawmakers know they are important to the community, he said.
Why the bill is concerning
For HSPA and its members, the bill is concerning because it would decrease government transparency, McClure said. Timmons described it as a “fox guarding the hen house.”
“If the government puts notices on their own website, where’s the check and balance? There is none,” Timmons said. “At least now, by it being independent newspapers, there’s a check and balance.”
The website would be an additional cost to the state at a time when there are potential budget shortfalls. It would also increase the size of government, McClure said.
The fiscal report compiled for the bill estimates the website would cost between $337,000 to $800,000 to build. One to four new state employees making $104,000 annually also may be required to maintain the website going forward.
Timmons believes there is no way the government could do the public notice work in a way that’s cost-effective. Newspapers have legal clerks whose full-time jobs are to put in legal advertisements and fill out and send publisher affidavits, he said. He also believes the cost will be more than what the bill’s fiscal note says.
“They have a plan to have two employees, how are they going to replace 200 newspapers with two employees?” Timmons said.
Using AIM Media Indiana as an example, each of the company’s newspapers has its own public notice clerk. Six employees handled the placement of nearly 700 notices last month, with 269 of those being handled by one person at the Daily Journal.
HSPA also has a website that aggregates public notices from member newspapers across the state that is free for anyone to access: publicnoticeindiana.com, said Beverly Joyce, a regional executive for CNHI and publisher of the Herald-Bulletin in Anderson and Tribune-Star in Terre Haute.
Additionally, there are concerns about access for Hoosiers without internet. About 25% of Hoosiers don’t have access to the internet, McClure said, citing a survey for the Indiana Broadband Digital Equity Plan. These Hoosiers would lose access to them if they are not printed in newspapers.
In the end, though, the bill would harm newspapers, McClure said.
“We think it’s very important that local news thrive because they deliver the information to local lawmakers constituents and allow them to participate in their government and keep them informed on what’s happening in their communities,” she said.
Swails said the bill is critical to the long-term future of newspapers and how they do business. If this form of public advertising is removed, newspapers will have to do business differently to make up for potential funding shortfalls, he said.
McClure, Swails, and Joyce all encouraged those concerned about public notices and local news to reach out to their state lawmakers and express their concerns about the bill.
Local media companies need that support to keep thriving, Joyce said.
“We’re not just print, we’re digital. But our readership is stronger than it’s ever been,” she said.
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