A bill that would have given 12 towns the option to stop announcing public hearings in newspaper ads couldn't get the votes to get out of a House committee Monday.
The local bill was the latest attempt by Rep. Paul Stam, an Apex Republican, to give more municipalities the ability to advertise public hearings on their own Web sites rather than buy space in the classified section of a newspaper.
The idea has encountered objection from newspaper publishers and editors who argue that a significant number of people have Internet connections, and that government should not be the sole advertiser of public hearings.
The bill also comes as newspapers are coping with dramatic losses in advertising revenue.
More after the jump.
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Stam's latest version applied to 12 towns and cities who requested the option. They were Concord, Atlantic Beach, Beaufort, Cary, Cedar Point, Clayton, Emerald Isle, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Pine Knoll Shores, Wendell and Zebulon. Cary had already been given the option, but town officials wanted the better language the bill would have provided. The towns were added over the weekend to the bill which originally only applied to the town of Clayton.
Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin, a Hamlet Democrat, said the bill would put newspapers out of business.
"I think we're going to shut down some of the local papers if we continue down this slope," she said.
Rep. Grier Martin, a Raleigh Democrat, said giving 12 municipalities was a good, measured start.
"It moves slowly and cautiously forward into the digital era," Martin said.
The bill failed 6 to 5. The committee restored the original version that applied to Clayton. That bill was approved by the committee.
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