“Democracy Demands Free Access to Public Information”
| Op-Ed Alert 2: The “Reporter” out of Pittsburgh published an op-ed written by PSATS executive director, Dave Sanko. Dave includes some updated information of interest.“A May 2024 Pew Research Center report found that only 4% of Americans prefer getting their local news from print newspapers. Meanwhile, more people are turning to township websites, community newsletters, and social media for updates. And the shift is accelerating: a June 2025 poll from Reuters and the University of Oxford revealed that 54% of Americans accessed news via social media and video platforms in the past week, surpassing TV (50%) and websites/apps (48%) for the first time.“Despite this clear trend, Pennsylvania law still mandates that key public notices be published in ‘newspapers of general circulation’ — a term that feels increasingly disconnected from how people actually consume information. These requirements force municipalities to spend taxpayer dollars on print ads that reach only a small fraction of their communities. “This system doesn’t serve the public. It serves a narrow special interest group that benefits from maintaining a monopoly on legal advertising — at the public’s expense.” |
