"Print newspapers fight against bill posting legal notices online"

This may seem like an odd issue, especially for those outside the US.

The historic US policy - carried out mostly at the state and local level - has been that when government has something important to communicate to the population, government should pay for a "public notice" advertisement in local newspapers. It's a time-honored tradition that has succeeded, more or less, in keeping the electorate informed, or at least giving them a relatively easy means to become informed if they choose to do so.

What this debate brings to a head is a very simple question. If government has something important to say, what is the best way that they can get that to the largest percentage of the population? The public policy pendulum clearly has swung toward the internet on this one, but maybe it is the right time to ask anew which route - the internet or a printed newspaper - is likely to achieve the real goal of this policy. That goal is an informed and involved electorate.

If newspapers could only be more creative about this, I bet there is a combination of print and electronic service that both governments and reader customers that could be offered that would be better than what exists now and even better than a website-only solution. Alas, I think newspapers are stuck in the status quo, defending what has been and is and not thinking anywhere near as much as they could about what could be.

It is very sad.