Jeremy Alford: Newspapers have a big stake in legislative session

The Louisiana Press Association’s new lobbying team is facing a regular session that will take aim at a vital component of the newspaper business — advertising revenue.
There are also growing concerns about other bills that could alter the in-person nature of public meetings and limit how reporters access certain public records from law enforcement agencies.
“This will be a much busier session than what I’m used to seeing,” said Jerry Raehal, who took over as LPA’s executive director in late 2020. Prior to that, he was the CEO of the Colorado Press Association.
“There are three pillars that we try to focus on and they’re all on the table in this session, including open meetings, public records and public notices.”
Raehal said the newspaper lobby will have new allies this year in the form of a lobbying team from Pelican State Partners led by attorney and lobbyist Christian Rhodes.
Attorney Scott Sternberg, known for his media and First Amendment work, is still the general counsel to the press association and the point person for lawmakers on many of the issues brewing.
At the top of the LPA’s watchlist is SB 322 by Sen. Fred Mills, R-Parks, which would allow local government bodies to use so-called “pointer ads” to replace traditional public notice advertisements for minutes, property sales and other proceedings.
The pointer ad, or small box ad, would simply provide a web or email address, or other mechanism, that points readers to a place where they can access or request the same information.
“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is using QR codes in this same exact way,” said Mills.
“Seems like the feds have this right and we need to catch up on it.”
Mills described his proposal as a “good compromise” and a “cost-saving” vehicle for the public bodies outlined in the bill, including “police juries, city and parish councils, municipal corporations, and school boards.”
Raehal countered that public bodies typically use less than 0.3 percent of their overall budgets to underwrite public notice ads. For some newspapers, on the other hand, that revenue is everything.
But advertising revenue isn’t the only reason the LPA is putting up a fight — the association has met with roughly 60 legislators so far to discuss other potential impacts, like due process.
Then there’s www.LouisianaPublicNotice.com, a digital clearinghouse for public notice ads powered by the LPA.
If newspapers lose the ability to publish entire public notices, that resource could become less populated.
Sternberg said he’s also asking lawmakers to consider the ramifications of the internet’s manipulatability.
“You know, this state is not particularly connected online,” Sternberg said.
“And part of the utility of a paper is it’s printed and dated, whereas a website is infinitely manipulatable.”
On another front, LPA is trying to avoid what Sternberg refers to as “the Zooms-day Scenario.”
In the wake of COVID-19, temporary laws were passed and allowances were granted for elected and appointed officials to meet digitally, often using Zoom.
As Louisiana returns to a sense of normalcy, officials like Treasurer John Schroder and House and Governmental Affairs Chairman John Stefanski, R-Crowley, are looking into ways to keep the good stuff from that experiment.
Stefanski has HB 325 to allow the State Bond Commission to continue meeting electronically, but only once per quarter. “We’re at the end of this pilot program with the Bond Commission meeting via Zoom and it worked flawlessly,” said Stefanski, who intends to keep meeting with the LPA as session kicks off.
“In fact, we’ve never seen more participation from the public. That’s why the treasurer asked me to file this.”
Sternberg said bills involving electronic public meetings are the “next big wave,” similar to the task lawmakers faced several years ago in regard to text messages and public records.
There are other bills introduced this session that would create additional carve-outs for the Board of Medical Examiners and the Gaming Control Board.
“I’m worried about the slippery slope,” said Sternberg.
“But there’s also the fact that being in the room and feeling the emotions is a real thing. Anyone who has been to a contentious public meeting knows that. People who have experienced parole hearings know that. Imagine capturing that feeling on Zoom. You can’t. You know what you can do on Zoom? You can press mute when you don’t want to engage.”
Any close observer of Louisiana politics probably wishes they had a mute button they could have pushed over the last few years.
But nothing like that exists for citizens and voters, so it’s only fair that our elected and appointed officials have to listen and watch and engage just like the rest of us.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.