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  • Chris Christie's newspaper "revenge bill,"

    Outraged that a stream of public money won't be coming their way.
    Jersey publishers 'not slowing down' in opposition to Christie newspaper 'revenge bill'

    By Joe Pompeo
    | 12/20/2016 10:37 PM EST



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    New Jersey publishers will continue their fight against what has become known as Gov. Chris Christie's newspaper "revenge bill," emboldened by this week's failure among lawmakers to rally enough support to bring the controversial legislation to a vote, but ever wary of its potential, they say, to obliterate tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue and hundreds of journalism jobs.

    "We're not slowing down," Rich Vezza, publisher of New Jersey's largest newspaper, The Star-Ledger, told POLITICO. "We're very concerned. We know we've got a governor who is actively pushing this. ... Since day one he's gone after the press, and I think Bridgegate just pushed him over the edge."

    Vezza was on the phone with POLITICO late Tuesday afternoon around the same time Christie was on Twitter railing against opposition to the bill, which would allow municipalities to post public notices on their own websites as opposed to having to pay to run them in local newspapers, as well as on newspaper websites.

    "How about reporters doing their homework & asking their billionaire bosses for proof of legal ad revenue?," the governor said in one of seven consecutive tweets on the matter.

    The bill has become a flashpoint for the hostile relationship between one of America's most high-profile governors and a press corps that has held his feet to the fire on issues ranging from the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, to Christie's failed presidential ambitions, to his role in Donald Trump's White House transition. The bill was introduced as newspapers grapple with significant existential challenges, including a sharp acceleration in the decline of print advertising and press freedom concerns that have arisen as the Fourth Estate-averse Trump administration prepares to enter the White House.

    Proponents have portrayed the proposed legislation as a way for local municipalities and their taxpayers to save money. Christie claims $80 million is spent every year on legal notices in New Jersey, but his office has refused to provide evidence for that calculation, which it says includes notices placed by governments, companies and individuals.

    Opponents argue the bill wouldn't be a money-saver given the technical and administrative costs that would be required for local governments to post their own legal ads; that it would create a burden for seniors and other non-web-friendly constituents; and that it would amount to a ruinous financial blow for local newspapers already struggling to survive.

    The New Jersey Press Association, a trade group that represents more than 180 daily and weekly newspapers, estimates that if the bill was passed, it would cost newspapers throughout the state $20 million in annual revenue and as many as 300 jobs, as well as forcing some publications to close down altogether.

    Moreover, there's been concern about the manner in which the bill was shoe-horned in at the tail end of the year right before the holiday break, fueling a perception that Christie is pushing the legislation as a way to punish newspapers for their aggressive coverage.

    In the days leading up to a planned vote on Monday, newspapers mounted a vigorous challenge through editorials, advertisements and news coverage. Lawmakers ended up canceling the vote when it became clear there wasn't enough support to pass it.

    But Christie, a Republican, and Vincent Prieto, the Democratic speaker of New Jersey's State Assembly, said they would make the legislation one of their top priorities in 2017.

    Speaking to reporters, Prieto said the bills is "one I hope to bring back very soon, because I think it's important and I think it had a lot of merit." He said that "a whole a lot of members thought it was a good thing to do," and that "we're going to look at it and look at all options and bring it back relatively soon. For me it's not about ramming anything down anybody's throat — it's about doing the right thing."

    Now newspapers are gearing up for round two.

    NJPA executive director George White told POLITICO that a task force including representatives from about a dozen newspapers will meet at NJPA's Trenton headquarters next week to discuss next steps. They hope to meet with legislators in January to work on modifying the bill in a way that would be amenable to both sides.

    "What we're anxious to find out is, what is really driving this notion that somehow governments can't afford their responsibility to provide notifications," said White. "The important thing is that whatever develops is good for the public, good for open government, and that it continues to position newspaper media as the best provider of the transparency and accountability that governments need, and that they pay for in every other state in the U.S."

    Initiatives to change or modernize public notice laws have arisen in nine other states, and in each case, the outcome upheld a requirement that notices run in print. There was a similar attempt to change the New Jersey requirement several years ago, but it didn't go anywhere.

    David Chavern, president of the News Media Alliance, an organization that advocates on behalf of some 2,000 print and digital news outlets in the U.S., said the New Jersey legislation is being watched closely.

    "New Jersey is a big enough state and Christie is a big enough political personality," he said, "that if the bill were successful, one would worry about it having follow-on effects in other parts of the country."
    http://www.politico.com/media/story/...ge-bill-004897
    To sit down with these men and deal with them as the representatives of an enlightened and civilized people is to deride ones own dignity and to invite the disaster of their treachery - General Matthew Ridgway
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