Letters: All citizens deserve access to public notices
Please be aware that some members of the Pennsylvania legislature are trying to remove public notices from newspapers. Public notices have been printed since the founding days of the United States, but House Bill 633 aims to permit state and local governments to post public notices on government websites instead of newspapers. If the bill passes, the government's communications with the public will go largely unnoticed.
Please be aware that some members of the Pennsylvania legislature are trying to remove public notices from newspapers.
Public notices have been printed since the founding days of the United States, but House Bill 633 aims to permit state and local governments to post public notices on government websites instead of newspapers. If the bill passes, the government's communications with the public will go largely unnoticed.
As media leaders in our community, we consider this proposal harmful both to government transparency and free enterprise, and we strongly oppose it.
There are 1,004,811 adults with no access to the Internet in our eight-county area. That's 25 percent of all adults who rely on newspapers for this information, and if the bill passes, they will be left in the dark. How will citizens without access to the Internet ever know?
House Bill 633 would hide government actions from a large segment of our population, and we believe this violates the public's trust. Please join us in opposition to this bill. Call us today at 215-854-5339 to voice your concern. If you have e-mail, you can contact us at keepyourpublicnotices@philly.com.
Gregory J. Osberg
Publisher and CEO
The Philadelphia Inquirer