Grassroots Lobbying Kit

Position Paper: Public Notices on the Internet

Public notices in newspapers provide accountability

The Iowa Newspaper Association’s position is that public notices are well-read and that Iowans think they are important. A 2006 statewide readership survey conducted by Newton Marketing and Research of Norman, Oklahoma*, concluded that over 89 percent of Iowans read their local newspaper. Some 77.6 percent of Iowans believe public notices should be published in newspapers. This study showed that readership of these notices is better than that of professional sports news.

Access to the Internet is limited and expensive

The Internet, despite all its hype and promise, is not used by one of every three Iowans. The 2006 research found that 74 percent of those surveyed have a computer at home and that of those with computers at home, 90.3 percent have Internet access. This means that only 67 percent of Iowans surveyed have Internet access. In rural areas, that figure drops.

Only 8.8 percent of Iowans say they would be very likely to read public notices on the Internet. Over 60 percent said they would “not at all be likely” to read the notices on the Internet. In fact, over half of Iowans say they never go on local government websites for any kind of information.

And don’t buy the claim that the public will view the notices on the Internet at their public libraries or from local government sources. The survey showed that 83.2 percent of Iowans never go to their local libraries to use the library’s computer system.

Newspapers are accessible to all Iowans at a very low cost to both the citizens reading the newspaper and the government body publishing the notices. The cost to subscribe to over 90 percent of Iowa newspapers is less than $100 a year. By contrast, the minimum start-up investment for a household to get Internet access stands at $400 to $1,200 for the hardware and software, plus $120 to over $500 per year for local access provider fees.

Asking a citizen to turn on a computer, dial to an Internet Service Provider, remember a website address and search through notices on a computer screen just to see if a public notice has appeared sounds like a great way to guarantee public notice will NOT be “noticed” by the public. By moving government public notices to the Internet, lawmakers should be aware that they would be drawing a very sharp line around large groups of citizens, and declaring that they no longer will have easy, low-cost access to the workings and announcements of their government.

“Cost savings” of Internet posting is a myth

Some have assumed that Internet posting is far less costly than print advertising -- but it doesn’t come without costs. The costs of running and properly maintaining and updating a reliable web site costs thousands of dollars. Loading material, putting it in the right places, building in adequate search engines, managing the files, guarding against hackers, archiving the material, all cost money.

Let’s explode the myth that real cost savings would be achieved by moving notices from newspapers to the Internet. Surveys conducted by the INA and organizations representing local governments show the total that any Iowa city/school/county spent on all public notices in recent years average less than one fifth of one percent of the local government’s annual budget. And most, if not all of these costs, would remain if public notices were distributed properly on the Internet or in city newsletters. The cost per thousand Iowans reading the notices would skyrocket since the survey shows clearly that few Iowans will go to the trouble of searching for this information on the Internet.

Even if posting notices on government websites was cost- free, it would be a waste of time if Iowans didn’t see them!

Verification of publication would be lost

When a newspaper publishes a public notice, in effect the newspaper is acting in the role of a third-party verifier or auditor of the notice. The newspaper is responsible for typesetting and preparing the notice for print and is responsible for signing a sworn affidavit of publication once the notice is published. Allowing local governments to put notices on the web rather than publish them in the newspaper removes those critical verification and auditing roles. How, if challenged, could a governmental agency prove that it posted adequate notice on its web site. Imagine the battles between, say, a community group and a planning commission, with the group saying it didn’t see a hearing notice on the website. Does there exist a verifiable affidavit for web posting?

Newspapers have provided an enhancement of public notice. There is a reason governments moved from hanging notices on fence posts to publishing them in newspapers. Newspapers offer maximum opportunity for the public to be aware of the workings of government. The Newton survey found that 90.8 percent of Iowa newspaper readers usually or sometimes look to their newspaper for news about local government and 88.5 percent usually or sometimes read news about local schools. Newspapers bring order, accuracy and reliability -- along with objectivity and credibility -- to publishing city, school and county notices. Using the Internet would be a giant step backwards, returning public notice to a new electronic fence post.

*Survey conducted in December, 2006. Margin of error: +/- 4.5% at the 95% confidence level.