• by Ray Schultz , April 21, 2024

A bill that would place public notices on a government website, depriving local newspapers of revenue and readers of transparency, critics argue, is now on the governor’s desk in Maryland. 

The Maryland Delaware DC Press Association (MDDC) is calling on Governor Wes Moore to veto HB1258. 

“We believe that HB 1258 will create a seismic change in the local media landscape that will decimate and potentially prompt the closure of local news outlets,” writes Rebecca Snyder, the executive director of the MDDC Press Association, in the Herald Mail. 

But HB1258 seeks to “centralize estate notices on a government-operated website alone, effectively pulling critical information for creditors and heirs into a subject-specific website that requires a user to have reliable internet access AND to know where to look for the information,” Snyder adds.