Stumbled across this from sources too various to mention… started off somewhere at BuzzMachine and then kind of fell through link after link. As you do.
Anyway, on the back of this…. http://outwithabang.rickwaghorn.co.uk/?p=60
… it was fascinating to find it is all kicking off in Philadelphia about just the same subject…
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080430_Pa__newspapers_fight_Senate_bill_on_legal_ads.html
In discussing the passage of Senate Bill 428, there are some great one-liners, not least from the bill’s sponsor… to quote: “Sen. Robert C. Wonderling (R., Montgomery), downplayed the controversy, saying the bill would merely provide another option for municipal leaders.
“Local officials, not Harrisburg, know how to best serve their constituents, he said, and they could still choose newspapers for legal notices.
“All this legislation does is provide local governments another option to publicize information,” Wonderling said, adding that he supported letting “the free market of content availability drive the decisions.”
‘The free market of content availability drive the decisions….’ Good line. Almost took the words right out of David Cameron’s mouth – or out of the mouth of whatever switched-on soul penned his speech to those Tory councillors.
The best line, however, comes from the woman charged by the local Pensylvannia Newspaper Association to defend their position to the hilt.
“[Deborah] Musselman acknowledged that legislation would hurt the industry financially. And that, she said, would harm everyone.
“If you hurt our revenue, you are hurting our ability to do our job under the First Amendment,” Musselman said. “It sounds corny, but that is what we believe.”
You’re right Debs, it does sound corny. It also makes you sound as if you’re pleading for a state subsidy for an ailing newspaper industry – something that’s always going to appeal to a free-market Republican of Robert C.’s persuasion.
Of course, it doesn’t end there… Senate Bill 428 is aimed at merely allowing these notices to be distributed via the local, free newspapers. At least that’s still in a printed form… For now, anyway…
“The industry is also trying to fend off what it views as even more troublesome legislation – a bill that would allow governments to post legal notices on the Internet, avoiding print altogether.
“That measure isn’t as far along. It is awaiting action in the Communications and Technology Committee…”
A commmitee chaired by who, exactly? No…
Oh, yes. One Robert C. Wonderling (R., Montgomery).
Oooh dear, Debs. Oooh dear…
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