HSPA’s efforts to preserve public notice advertising include an upgrade to its public notice website.
In order to make the website a success for all newspapers, HSPA needs PDF’s of member newspapers pages.
Protect public notices
Who: Indiana newspaper publishers
What: HSPA requests that member papers print a code – hspaxlp – with every public notice. The font of the code should be at least 4 points.
When: Please start doing this now.
Where: The code should go at the end of each public notice.
Why: The code will allow software to copy the public notice from a PDF for posting online.
Publishers are asked to reply to an email from HSPA Executive Director and General Counsel Steve Key requesting information about each newspaper for the project.
HSPA partner Tecnavia Press Inc. will use the PDF’s to post public notices from each paper on one website.
The association created a public notice website a few years ago to collect on one site all public notices from HSPA newspapers as a defensive measure against legislation that would eliminate public notice publication in newspapers and replace it with government website postings. (HSPA identified four anti-public notice bills in this session of the Indiana General Assembly.)
The HSPA Board of Directors decided to change vendors in an effort to increase participation, Key said.
“We’re now transitioning to a public notice website operated by Tecnavia Press,” he said. “Your fellow publishers need each paper to participate to make the site a success.”
Code needed with printed notices
Start adding the following code to the end of every public notice ad – hspaxlp – as soon as possible in at least 4 point font.
This code will allow Tecnavia to identify newspaper pages that contain public notices and post those notices on a redesigned public notice website.
If the code adds a line to the public notices, don’t charge the government unit for the extra line.
“It’s vitally important that your staff include ‘hspaxlp’ in all printed public notices as soon as possible to make the public notice website a viable weapon in the fight to preserve public notice publication requirements,” Key said.
Publishers can direct questions about this project to Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, at skey@hspa.com or (317) 624-4427.
