Allen County Commissioner David Lee issued the county’s two newspapers a challenge Tuesday morning: Prove that they are the media of choice for local news and the best way to inform citizens about local government.
We accept the challenge for two reasons: If the county uses us as their source to publish its news then we deserve their scrutiny; and second, that challenge keeps our feet to the fire to do our best.
We don’t want citizens to think the county commissioners are doing us a “favor” by using the Iola Register and the Humboldt Union to post their news, but rather as a responsibility in their effort to serve the public.
Specifically at issue are public notices. These are legal notifications of any number of sorts such as someone requesting a change of zoning so they can build a business; the county requesting bids for upcoming projects or purchases; the unfortunate news of trying to locate a child’s parent; lists of those who are delinquent on their property taxes; news of foreclosures; ballot measures; notices of budget hearings, and, once passed, county budgets.
Because most of these things concern our tax dollars, the more eyes that see them, the more informed we are as a public as to how these funds are being spent. It’s not to the public’s advantage to grant local government complete control over access to public information, stressing the importance of an independent third party that communicates between elected officials and the citizens they serve.
The Kansas Press Association has gone so far as to provide the public, including city and county governments, free online access to all public notices printed in newspapers across the state.
Talk about a bargain.
But please note, it begins with newspapers’ printed products and their supposedly anachronistic purpose to capture history, from legal documents to birth announcements, while at the same time protecting it from hackers, power outages, viruses or whatever else may compromise today’s technology.
We believe in earning the county’s business.
And we won’t let the county, or our readers, down.
— Susan Lynn
