Open meetings short course would be good government
By David Bordewyk The theme for this year’s National Newspaper Week is “Telling Our Stories” – a reminder about the role of newspapers in reporting the important stories in their communities. Stories that run the gamut: human-interest features, football game recaps, new businesses in town and, of course, local government meetings. Keeping an eye on government and informing readers about public board meetings are among the most important jobs for a community newspaper. Sometimes, the local newspaper reporter may be the only person sitting in the audience for a city council or school board meeting. South Dakota’s open meetings laws provide a road map for how government boards must notify citizens about upcoming public meetings and how they conduct certain aspects of their meetings. At times, the open meetings laws can be confusing and lead to misunderstanding. Over the years, newspapers have reported many stories about problems related to compliance with our state’s open meetings laws. Among the cases that have come before the South Dakota Open Meetings Commission since its inception in 2004 are those rooted in the fact that public officials did not properly understand the laws and they unknowingly violated them. That is why South Dakota NewsMedia Association – which represents the state’s newspapers and various digital news outlets – will support a bill in the 2025 legislature that would require all public boards to review the open meetings laws once a year. We believe a little refresher course each year would go a long way toward eliminating those unintended violations and missteps involving these important laws. The proposal as currently drafted is straightforward: “All public bodies of the state and its political subdivisions as part of their annual organizational meeting or at the first regular official meeting of each year shall review the open meetings laws in SDCL 1-25 or as explained in the ‘Guide to South Dakota’s Open Meetings Laws,’ prepared by the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.” That’s it. No heavy mandate and no expenditures of tax dollars. Just a bit of time devoted annually to reviewing the open meetings laws. The open meetings guide prepared by the South Dakota attorney general is an ideal educational tool to help public boards complete an annual review. You can find it on the attorney general’s website (www.atg.sd.gov) under the “legal resources” tab. Most government boards in South Dakota are comprised of citizens who volunteer their time and energy to serve in a public role. A little education will go a long way toward supporting our volunteer public officials in navigating an important set of open government laws. This would be especially helpful given the natural turnover of boards either by elections or other means. Open government is akin to good government. We believe our legislative proposal will reinforce both of those important ideals. David Bordewyk is executive director of the South Dakota NewsMedia Association, which represents the state’s newspapers and various digital news outlets.
David Bordewyk
Our stories shape the stories that matter most
By Jeff Cott It seems like about every time I am out in the public, no matter what the occasion, once someone realizes I own the local paper they seem anxious to tell me something. And in more cases than not, it is how something someone has read impacts their lives. For example, the man that caught me in the local grocery store and proceeded to tell me he knows exactly when we deliver our paper there. He picks it up each week as soon as he can to see the public notices. In many cases it is the first notice he gets of something new coming to town or the streets in his neighborhood are up for repair. He told me there’s more in those public notices than people realize. Or the lady that told me once about a story we did on someone who donated an organ and that it hit her so hard she was compelled to do the same thing for someone else, when the time comes. Or the father of a boy on our local football team, who I had never met but he seemed to know me, thanked me for the tremendous effort we put into covering local high school sports. Prior to a recent election cycle a young man told me if we had not produced our local Election Guide, he would have no idea who to vote for. He said now he felt good about his vote and vowed to never make a decision in local races again without the information he got about candidates in his community paper. And advertisers feel those life-impacting moments as well from what we do. Like the manager of a local senior living facility who told me she couldn’t’ believe the response she got from an ad campaign we did. Not only did it create new prospects, but the current residents were proud and happy they were advertising the way they were. How many stories like these do we never hear or know about? There is no question that a community newspaper impacts the lives of people in a community, and in ways we may never know. The stories that come from people because of their local paper are clear evidence that newspapers are more than alive and well. They are busy breathing new life every day in communities across our country. As an industry, we won’t give up on creating the content that can shape the lives of people. Our stories will continue to serve longtime readers or create brand new readers. And in the end, it’s the stories our readers tell us, about what we are doing for them, that matter most. Jeff Cott is the Publisher/Owner of the Derby Weekly Informer, Derby, KS
Jeff Cott
'Support Matters'
storefront now open!
The 'Support Matters' t-shirt fundraiser for the SDNA Foundation was a success! If you missed out on the pre-order, please CLICK HERE to visit the 'Support Matters' storefront and order today. Limited colors and sizes are still available. Proceeds benefit the South Dakota NewsMedia Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting education and professional development opportunities for news media.
Thank you to everyone that purchased a shirt and contributed to supporting the SDNA Foundation.