A bill that would allow local governments to opt out of the requirement to advertise public hearings in newspapers has been set aside.
In its place, Rep. Paul Stam plans to push a local bill that would allow up to 14 municipalities to be excluded from the requirement, he told a House committee Thursday. The House's rules say that any more than 14 and the bill would have to apply statewide, as Stam's earlier version did. Local bills often have an easier time getting approved on the House floor.
Stam, an Apex Republican and House minority leader said his bill is meant to save cities and towns money by allowing them to use their Web sites to announce public hearings.
"I personally read five papers and enjoy them all," Stam said. "That's not where people go to find out what's happening."
NAACP and newspapers object after the jump.
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The Rev. William Barber, head of the state chapter of the NAACP, said that poor people and minorities have disproportionately low access to the Internet and government should be putting notices in more places, not less. Barber said the organization opposes the idea in any form.
"These notices are the people's notices, and they belong to the people, not to the bureaucracy," Barber said.
Orage Quarles III, publisher of The News & Observer, said government Web sites could not attract the level of readership that a newspaper and its Web site can. The reach of a newspaper can help ensure that people who need to know about an important event hear about it, he said.
"Public notices are more important when people are not looking for those notices," Quarles said.
The issue, and the list of municipalities looking to opt out of legal advertising, is scheduled to be discussed again on Monday.
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