NEWSPAPER
ASSOCIATION LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN TO SAVE PUBLIC NOTICES FROM EXTINCTION
HARTFORD – The Connecticut Daily Newspaper Association
(CDNA), comprised of all sixteen daily newspapers throughout Connecticut,
announced at their annual meeting today that they will be launching an ad
campaign aimed at informing voters of proposals before the state legislature
that would virtually remove public and legal notices from their newspapers.
The first of the full page ads will run on April 1st titled,
“This is no April Fool’s joke”. The ad, a full page, black and white ad
that will run in every daily newspaper in Connecticut, will provide the phone
numbers of all four legislative caucuses and the Governor’s Office for readers
to call and express their concerns over the removal of very important public
information out of the newspaper. Legislators have proposed allowing
towns and cities to place these ads on their websites in lieu of the newspapers
– who would only be allowed to provide a snapshot of the notice and reference
to that town’s website.
“It’s very unfortunate, but CDNA has had to battle this
issue time and time again as town government continues to look for ways to cut
their budget and close their doors to openness,” said Chris VanDeHoef, the
association’s Executive Director. “Everyone understands that town budgets are
hurting – however – closing off access to what these towns and cities are doing
is no cure for what ails them. Ridding themselves of third party
verification and oversight is simply a recipe for trouble.”
CDNA intends to run these ads on average three times per week,
changing up the wording, but never the message. “The simple fact is, not
everyone in Connecticut has access to the internet and people who don’t might
be curious about what their government is spending money on, what projects are
being sent out to bid and any number of other actions it might take. What
are they to do when the towns can shut them out,” asked VanDeHoef.
The ad campaign will run through the month of May.
___________________________________________________________________________
To contact your local legislator please review the following links for more information:
