Florida passes bill to eliminate requirement to place public notices in newspapers

March 11, 2022

Did the Florida Legislature pass this bill to punish newspapers? Some lawmakers say yes

For the second time in 11 months, the Florida House voted on Thursday to send a bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis that would strip Florida’s newspapers of revenue from legal notices.

Some lawmakers said the move is a jab at publications that sometimes publish stories and editorials critical of the Republican leadership in Florida.

READ MORE from the Tampa Bay Times

Dean Ridings, CEO of America's Newspapers, spoke out against the action taken in Florida yesterday, saying:

“The passage of HB 7049 in Florida that eliminates the legal requirement for public notices to be published in local newspapers should be a warning to other states. Using newspapers to communicate public notice is good public policy, but sometimes legislators use the elimination of public notice in newspapers to punish newspapers. Publishers need to form a relationship with their legislators now so they are able to discuss the issues and importance of public notice if a bad bill is filed.”

Jim Fogler, president of the Florida Press Association, shared next steps:

"The current Public Notice law, which became effective on Jan 1, was already working by bringing in more competition, improving access to our public notice website, and lowering costs.

"There’s always a natural tension between the media and politicians based on coverage and the jobs that we each must do. So, I’m sure that frustration with the media did play a role in this new bill being brought forward with great speed and approved by the Florida Legislature. It’s unfortunate that the people who will be most negatively impacted by this bill is the public. The Florida Press Association is not giving up; we are preparing a letter for the Governor that will urge a veto. If the bill becomes law, we will continue to work on collecting information that the current law requires of us, and we’ll share that data with legislators next session in hopes of having a more deliberative, fact-based discussion on the best way to ensure transparency and access for public notice."

Read the text of HB 7049

Jim Fogler, Sam Morley and Bill Barker

Session Highlight:

Protecting Public Notices

Protecting public notices is a critical issue for local newspapers and recent government actions in some states have created even more urgency for newspapers to act on this issue.

This must-attend session will address the latest developments around public notices and the impact they have on newspapers, as well as the actions every publisher should be taking to protect the publication of public notices in their market.

Panelists include:

Jim Fogler, president, Florida Press Association

Sam Morley, general counsel, Florida Press Association

Bill Barker, founder and CEO, Barker Strategic Solutions, LLC

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Industry people

Trevor Evans named publisher of two newspapers in New York

The Lake Placid News and Adirondack Daily Enterprise have a new publisher.

Daily Herald promotes Lisa Miner, Jim Slusher to managing editor roles

Seasoned journalists and longtime newsroom leaders Lisa Miner and Jim Slusher have been promoted to managing editor roles at the Daily Herald in Chicago, Illinois.

Miner was named managing editor and Slusher was named managing editor for administration and opinion, effective immediately.

Both moves were announced Thursday by Jim Baumann, executive editor of the Daily Herald.

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