TWN
THE WASHINGTON NEWSPAPER November 2023
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Journal of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
Ohio implements sweeping changes to public notices
Committee reviewing exemptions stumbles
Bill buried inside the state’s budget allows governments to bypass papers Unbeknownst to most in the newspaper business, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law a bill that will bring sweeping changes to the state’s public notice regime. DeWine signed the bill less than a week after it passed both the GOP-dominated state House and Senate by wide margins on June 30. Few were aware of the measure. It was buried within the Legislature’s 6,198-page budget. Ohio HB-33 allows municipalities to publish many or most of their notices on their own websites and social media feeds, or on the Ohio News Media Association’s (ONMA) statewide public notice website, instead of publishing them in local
newspapers or legal journals. The bill also allows Ohio’s state environmental agency to publish all of its notices on its website instead of local newspapers and legal journals. Ohio is now the second state to pass a law allowing local governments to post a substantial portion of their notices on their own websites. While HB-33 is clearly less comprehensive than the bill passed last year by the Florida legislature, it contains fewer guardrails and hurdles before local governments can alter time-tested systems that provide their citizens with official notice. It also clearly conflicts with measures still on the books in Ohio that require legal notices in newspapers.
Ain’t no sunshine when they meet
David Welton of the South Whidbey Record took first place in a general news photo category in last year’s Better Newspaper Contest for this picture accompanying a story about cannabis use.
The state’s Sunshine Committee has foundered in recent years. Originally charged with reviewing exemptions to the state Public Records Act to see if they still have merit, the committee has mainly failed to interest the Legislature in removing exemptions. The frustraiton has grown to the point where the committee considered disbanding. One member described the effort as a “perpetual task force that goes nowhere.” At a meeting recently, members, still frustrated, agreed to make another run at getting lawmakers to heed the work they do. Members agreed Tuesday to seek greater flexibility on when they meet and the ability to present See PANEL, Page 3
Column retreats from press association partnerships
About a dozen press associations received a bit of a surprise last week when Column, a vendor of statewide public-notice websites, announced it would end its partnerships with state press associations as it pivots to serve individual publishers.
Column is giving its pressassociation clients until May 31, 2024, to find a new vendor. The company recommended that its clients transition to the other major statewide public-notice website vendor — the Illinois Press Association — which Col-
umn called “the best alternative provider of public notice website hosting.” WNPA already contracts with the Illinois Press Association to provide a statewide legals website. Several other vendors also pro-
vide software to power statewide public notice websites, including two — Tecnavia and Newz Group — that service multiple press associations. Column, however, was the only vendor that provided its platform free of charge, leveraging
the deals it cut with press associations — some of which included revenue-sharing arrangements — to help market its public notice platform for publishers. Despite the fact that it offered its statewide-website platform See COLUMN, Page 2