Full-Length Video

Publisher involvement is key to preserving public notice

SNPA News Industry Summit

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Attorney John Bussian moderated a panel discussion during the recent SNPA News Industry Summit on defending public notice requirements, bringing two of the most "battle decorated veterans" to talk to SNPA members.

Hal Tanner III, publisher of The Goldsboro (N.C.) News-Argus, and Sam Morley, general counsel for the Florida Press Association, talked about legal advertising issues and their continuing fight to defend the newspaper franchise.

They shared their strategies for developing front-line defenses via legislation to fix public notice problems and to keep requiring local governments to run public notice ads in newspapers of paid, general circulation.

Tanner served as president of the N.C. Press Association during the last legislative session in North Carolina.  While public notice attacks have been building for years, he said this last year was much more intense.

"With the realignment of control within the General Assembly for the first time since Reconstruction in North Carolina – Republicans taking the governor's mansion and both Chambers – the dynamic changed completely," he said. "They were after newspapers.  I think they sensed a weakness in our financial position and also decided that – because of the political firestorm going on in North Carolina – they felt, maybe, that the media coverage was not quite as favorable and as fair as it should be.  So, they took those elements and basically decided to put on a full court press."

He said the intensity with which they went after newspapers this time was far greater than he'd ever seen.

In this 34-minute video, Morley and Tanner discussed the strategy they used and their frustration and the difficulty they often had in getting publishers and editors engaged with the process.

Tanner said the fact that publishers ultimately did get involved made the difference; "that is how we beat back the barbarians ... because without it, these bills would have sailed through."

They also shared take-aways from the last legislative session that other states could benefit from as they face similar battles.

legal notices, Bussian, Tanner, Morley
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