VIEWPOINT | Freely-distributed newspapers deserve chance to be legal papers of record

Guest column be Sen. Tim Reed

If you are reading this Viewpoint, you are aware of changes in the newspaper industry. The leading method of consumption of news is no longer a daily printed paper. Websites, email newsletters, and social media have replaced the daily printed newspaper. These changes caused newspapers to be purchased by large corporations and local coverage suffered. That void gave opportunity to free-circulation newspapers that also publish articles online. The Dakota Scout and the Aberdeen Insider were started and quickly flourished. The public was hungry for good local reporting.

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I spent 13 years on the Brookings City Council, eight as Mayor and I’m in my eighth year in the Legislature. During my time as an elected official, I have always supported that governments’ public notices should be printed in a local paper. I always voted against school boards, counties and cities only publishing public notices on their own websites. I also sponsored and successfully passed a bill to modernize publishing public notices. The bill stated that newspapers must also publish the public notices online so those who do not receive the printed paper have access. These public notices let constituents know what their government is up to.

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Newspapers have historically done a good job banding together to lobby the Legislature to make sure public notices are recorded and published in local papers. These new independent operations quickly sought the ability to serve the public and publish public notices. This caught the newspaper industry by surprise. During the 2023 legislative session, two different attempts were made by the upstart news organizations to allow them to contract with local government entities to publish their notices. Both attempts failed. The newspaper industry argued against the bills, stating that there were no checks to make sure the free-circulation newspapers reached the people that deserved to know what their governments are doing.  

After the 2023 legislative session, the South Dakota Newspaper Association and the new newspapers got together because they both want to make sure the public is informed.  In the process, the South Dakota Newspaper Association rebranded itself as the South Dakota News-Media Association. Senate Bill 75 was written by both parties. This bill would allow The Dakota Scout to contract to publish the notices and make sure the notices would reach the public. SB75’s prime sponsor, Sen. David Wheeler of Huron, ushered the bill through the 2024 Legislature without a no vote and Gov. Kristi Noem has signed it. 

The South Dakota News-Media Association and its members,  including the paper you are currently reading, have the best interest of the public at heart. I thank them for working together to protect the public’s right to know. 

Tim Reed is a member of the South Dakota Senate, representing District 7. He is chairman of the Senate Local Government Committee and was the recipient of the South Dakota News-Media’s 2022 Eagle Award, which recognized public officials for “protecting the people’s right to know.”