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In two states, free papers press for legal ads
Most states require newspapers to have paying subscribers to publish legal notices but at least a few grant that authority to freedistribution papers as well.
Those requirements don’t change very often which is why it’s so unusual to have two states considering legislation this year that would allow free papers to publish notices.
The newspapers supporting the measures in both states were founded by entrepreneurs in communities where the paid-circulation newspapers have experienced multiple rounds of layoffs and cutbacks in recent years. Taking the other side of the debate are the states’ press associa - tions, both of which oppose the bills.
The legislation in South Dakota was backed by Joe Sneve and Jonathan Ellis, who started The Dakota Scout last fall. The former reporters for Gannett’s Sioux Falls-based Argus Leader describe their new paper as an “independent and locally owned political newspaper focusing on state and local politics in the state Capitol and Sioux Falls.”
According to Sneve, the paper has a weekly print run of 5,000 copies distributed in 200 locations throughout the Sioux Falls areas, including coffee shops, retail outlets and grocery stores.