Texas Press Association

According to an annual survey of towns represented by community newspapers conducted by the National Newspaper Association and the research division of the Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism, 80 percent of the public believes governments should be required to publish public notices in newspapers. 

In 2010, 75% thought that governments should be required to publish public notices in newspapers.  The trend has run consistently through the half-decade of the NNA study, demonstrating the public expectation of finding the notices in newspapers. The findings also disclosed that 23% read public notices “very often”  in their newspapers.   Studies by state newspaper organizations support the same theme: people want the notices in their newspapers, whether they read them consistently or not. But they do read the notices.

Further with local newspapers under assault as the traditional delivery method for public notices, the survey revealed that on average, readers have read their local newspapers for approximately 25.34 years, ranging from less than one year to 65 years in small towns and cities in the United States.  Also, 83% of the readers said that local news or local information was the primary reason for selecting local newspapers; with 73% read either “all” or “most” of the content of local newspapers. 

Publishers’ Auxiliary, Survey Readers prefer community paper for news (12.11)