In the recently concluded session of the NY State Assembly, two bills that would have allowed online-only publication of legal notices failed to pass -- but that won't stop Howard Owens, publisher of the online-only community news site The Batavian, from continuing to push for this potential revenue stream.

"If you decide to pursue this option, accept that it's a multi-year effort," he said. And he offered some insight and advice for other community news publishers seeking to lobby for online-only legal notices.

Dry, stodgy legal notices are not exactly compelling content for most news audiences -- but at least theoretically they're an important part of civil society.

States currently have a variety of laws require these noticed to be published in daily print newspapers, in order to give every citizen a chance to see them. The intent is to keep the public informed, but in practice these requirements seem to do more to fund print newspapers than enhance civic participation.

Earlier this year, legal blogger Kevin O'Keefe recalled: "I bought a ton of legal notices as a practicing lawyer over almost 20 years, whether it be of a foreclosure, service of process by publication, or the seizure of assets. I was then required to file proof of publication with the court. It seemed like an outdated process even 30 years ago. I don't ever recall anyone responding because they saw a notice in the newspaper. I skimmed the notices to see the work my competitor law firms were doing. I'm not sure who else read the notices."

Aside from NY State, in recent years there have been similar efforts in New Jersey, California, North Carolina, Michigan and other states.

The NY State bills only addressed legal notices placed by governments (such as city councils), not by attorneys. But still, it was an effort to overturn the monopoly print newspapers have had on online legal notice publishing for many decades.

"If these had passed, it wouldn't have meant a ton of revenue for us, but it would have been something extra," said Owens. "Around here local governments are spending $2000-4000 per year on legal notice. That's not enough to hire a full-time reporter, but this business is all about cultivating multiple revenue streams. It all adds up."

Traditionally journalists shy away from lobbying activities, but publishers have always been involved with lobbying efforts. "I'm not doing anything that's not standard business practice," Owens said. "And I've learned a lot about how NY State law works."

The first step in lobbying for online-only legal notices, said Owen, is to involve your direct state representative. Two years ago Owens had his initial contact on this topic with his NY Assemblyman, Stephen Hawley. "He introduced the bill that year. It failed to pass, so he reintroduced it for the 2011-12 session. It was essentially the same language," said Owens. Another Assemblyman, Democrat Kevin Cahill, picked up Hawley's language in a separate bill.

Predictably, print newspapers tend to lobby actively against such measures -- even at the local level. "Our direct competitor sent a letter to city council and legislature opposing it. Tom Turnbull [publisher of the local paper, the Batavia Daily News] sent a letter urging the Batavia City Council to oppose these bills. But they voted unanimously to support them. That's amazing. It used to be that city councils would neverblatantly oppose the local newspaper," he said.

If your state rep doesn't want to take on this issue, Owens advises working with online-only community publishers in other parts of your state whose reps are more interested.

It also helps to educate local governments and other stakeholders in how allowing online-online legal ads can benefit communities. In May Owens published an FAQ for local governments in the Batavian's coverage area, explaining the bills then before the legislature and their possible benefits. For instance:

Q. How will citizens benefit from online legal notices?

A. Online publication opens up a wealth of opportunities for legal notice enhancements, from maps, links to related data, searching, greater and wider distribution (think Google), and continuous archives.

Q. But not everybody has access to a computer or the Internet.Won't this deny those people an opportunity to view legal notices?

A. The flip answer is, not everybody reads a newspaper. The truth is, neither paper nor online have a monopoly on readership...

Owens also observed that allowing online-only legal notices could also help keep afloat newspapers which have to cut back on daily print publishing -- as long as they keep publishing legal notices daily online.

Recently Poynter reported: "With The Times-Picayune planning to stop printing daily on Oct. 1, the clerk of civil district court for Orleans Parish has named Gambit, the weekly newspaper, its official publication for notices related to its proceedings. The change is effective Aug. 1."

What's next? Owens said that his representative plans to introduce this bill again in the upcoming legislative session, and he notes that some other community news sites in NY have expressed support. Politics keeps changing, and a new session may bring new receptiveness.

According to one online-only community publisher in NY: "I spoke to a local legislator a year or so ago who initially said this bill had a fat chance in NY State. I looked at his campaign contributions and found the publisher of my dead-tree competitor, who he mentioned had spoken to him about the issue, had contributed thousands of dollars to him over the years. He had a laundry list of phony excuses, too. This year I saw him again and he seemed more, uh, optimistic. And I noticed, too, that the publisher had not contributed that year."

The News Leadership 3.0 blog is made possible by a grant to USC Annenberg from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The Knight Digital Media Center at USC is a partnership with the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. The Center is funded by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.