If Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis thought he was getting bad press for the past two years, he hasn’t seen anything yet.

Newspapers, which already loathe the conservative governor, are furious now.

You see, yesterday DeSantis signed into law Florida CS/HB 7049, which makes it cheaper for governments and lawyers to post legal notices, but cuts off an archaic cash cow for newspapers.

CS/HB 7049: Legal Notices

Legal Notices; Revises requirements for newspapers publishing legal notices; removes option for publication on newspaper's website; provides for publication of legal notices on publicly accessible websites; authorizes governmental agency to publish legal notices on publicly accessible website; authorizes governmental agency with certain percentage of its population located within county meeting population threshold to use publicly accessible website; requires governmental agency to provide specified notice to residents & property owners relating to alternative methods of receiving notices; provides requirement for public bid advertisements made by governmental agencies on publicly accessible websites.

Smart.

No longer will Florida’s government agencies be forced to buy expensive space in shrinking newspapers to post legal notices. Instead, these notices can be posted on websites.

Good for taxpayers. Bad for newspapers.

Most states still require publication of legal ads in the press, but several have considered bills similar to Florida’s. Perhaps this move by the Sunshine State will give them the courage to stand up to the belligerent press corps.

Naturally, publishers and press associations are apoplectic. They’ve enjoyed the monopoly on legal ads. That requirement may have made sense when newspapers were booming and nearly every American household subscribed to at least one. But those days are long gone.

Plus, 50 years ago government agencies didn’t have websites. They do now.

Here’s a dirty little secret that those of us working in daily newspapers knew during the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007 and 2008:

As classified, real estate and car ads disappeared, it was legal notices of FORECLOSURES that helped keep newspapers afloat during those lean years.

That’s right. Your misery during the financial crisis kept newspapers flush.

And newspapers, which are now circling the drain, want to keep it that way.

Hence, unified opposition from Florida newsrooms to the consumer-friendly new law. The newspaper industry claims that by allowing legal notices to be posted on the web, the public will be kept in the dark.

Nonsense.

It’s a lot easier to find a website than it is to buy a newspaper or break through a paywall to read legal notices.

Wondering just how much trouble newspapers are in? In the past 15 years scores of papers have closed and laid off thousands of workers. It’s estimated that newspaper employment in 2020 stood at just 30,820, down from 74,410 in 2006.

Ad revenue is also plummeting.

According to an August 2021 Forbes report on the dismal state of newspapers, “Newspapers Have Been Struggling And Then Came The Pandemic” print news is in deep trouble.

In 2020, the circulation (print and digital) of weekday newspapers was 24.3 million and for Sunday newspapers it was 25.8 million, both a year-over-year decline of 6%. In contrast, in 1990, the weekday newspaper circulation was 63.2 million and for Sunday newspapers it was 62.6 million…

For the year, ad revenue totaled a record low $8.8 billion, down nearly 30% from $12.45 billion in 2019. By comparison, in 2005, newspapers had generated a record high $49.4 billion in ad revenue. In a first, Pew Research notes newspapers in 2020, had generated more revenue from circulation than from advertising. 

Look, I’m sorry newspapers are struggling and that the financial crises have hit the industry hard. I worked in newspapers during their heyday and well into their decline.

But why should print news have exclusive deals with government to publish legal notices when that’s not where most people get their news?

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Rep. Randy Fine, one of the Florida bill’s supporters, claimed the law would save the government "tens of millions of dollars a year.”

"This bill would, in effect, allow those public notices to go online — which is now the primary way people consume content," Fine said.

Most states still require legal notices to be posted in newspapers, although several are considering laws similar to Florida’s. Moving legal notices to websites will save tax dollars and make it easier for the public to find legal notices.

Without forcing government agencies to buy legal ads - a sort of welfare for newspapers - the industry will take a hit.

Tough.

DeSantis and Florida legislators get it. It’s not the job of taxpayers to keep the failing newspaper industry afloat.