Publisher: Bill an effort to put 'watchdogs' on a tight leash Watch video
TRENTON — State lawmakers Thursday advanced a bill eliminating the requirement for governments, businesses and citizens to run legal notices in newspapers and instead allow them to only be posted on government websites.
Bill sponsors, both Democrats and Republicans, said towns would save money if they could post legal notices — required to notify the public about meetings, contracting opportunities and other official business — on their websites rather than paying for print advertising.
But newspaper industry leaders, worried about losing millions in advertising revenue, said there would be no savings because towns would need to shell out money to maintain their own websites. They also said it would reduce government transparency, and that minorities and seniors, two populations more likely to read newspapers than have internet access, would be cut off from public information.
And Richard Vezza, publisher of The Star-Ledger, said there was a political agenda to undermine newspapers by allowing public officials to pull legal advertising from publications whose reporting they don’t like.
“What you’re looking for is a bunch of lapdogs that you control, not a bunch of watchdogs,” he told lawmakers. “Some of us will be gone, some of us will be here. Those of us who will be here, are going to be watchdogs.”
Bill sponsors insisted they only want to save taxpayer money.
“There is no other agenda here.” said Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D-Essex).
The bill (A-2802) cleared the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee, 4-1. Approved by the Senate budget committee in July, it appears to have gained new momentum.
“It’s on its way to becoming law if it comes out of this committee,” said Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Union) before the vote Thursday. “It’s a different world. We can’t save newspapers by subsidizing newspapers.”
Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco (R-Gloucester), the sole vote against the bill, said he was not convinced there would be any cost savings. A report from the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services said it’s unclear if taxpayer money would be saved and raised the possibility that some towns would need to hire more people to process legal notices.
Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-Hudson), another committee member, who was not at the hearing to fill in on a different panel, said she would have voted no. “It would make it very difficult for many other people to read the ads,” she said.
Bill sponsors said it would save government $70 million a year. The New Jersey Press Association disputed that, saying $20 million a year is spent on legal ads. Of that, $12 million is paid by private individuals, $8 million is footed by taxpayers.
North Jersey Media Group President Stephen Borg said lawmakers haven’t done their homework on the bill.
“In plain English, what I think this all means is the state does not, with all due respect, know what’s going to happen financially,” he said.
Vezza pointed the finger at Gov. Chris Christie and South Jersey politicians, saying politics, not finances, are at work.
“The governor wants this bill because he’s angry at the newspapers,” he said. “And the people in South Jersey, the Democratic faction, want this bill.”
Christie’s office would not say whether the governor supports the bill. Both the Assembly and the Senate still need to approve the bill before it reaches the governor’s desk.
The newspaper industry, battling an economic downturn and the availability of free internet content, has struggled with declines in advertising and subscriptions.
Jennifer Chciuk, publisher of The West Essex Tribune, a weekly newspaper in Livingston, said losing legal advertising could be devastating.
“Some of the smaller community newspapers would be forced to close,” she said. “It’s tougher and tougher and tougher to make ends meet nowadays.”
George White, executive director of the press association, said rates for legal advertising haven’t risen since 1983, yet it’s still important. “It’s steady cash flow,” he said.
Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo said he doesn’t support the bill. If it passes, he said the county would continue to run legal advertising in newspapers because more people in the community have access to them. He said allowing politicians to pull such ads would let them to punish publications they don’t agree with.
“Whoever gets elected is going to make their own deal with the newspaper,” he said. “I’m concerned about that.”