Public Notice Should Reach the Public
There was a time when publishing a notice in a widely distributed local newspaper provided a reasonable chance that residents would encounter information about a public hearing, rezoning application, infrastructure proposal, regulatory proceeding or government consultation. Local radio and television provided additional common channels through which information could circulate within a geographic community.
That communications environment no longer exists.
There was a time when publishing a notice in a widely distributed local newspaper provided a reasonable chance that residents would encounter information about a public hearing, rezoning application, infrastructure proposal, regulatory proceeding or government consultation. Local radio and television provided additional common channels through which information could circulate within a geographic community.
That communications environment no longer exists.
Social media can distribute information quickly, but algorithms do not show every post to every follower. Not everyone uses the same platforms—or social media at all. Citizens may even be blocked from the accounts of elected representatives who use those accounts to communicate public information.
The result is a growing divide between information being publicly available and the public actually being notified.
A modern public-notice system should close that divide.