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Bill would require 120-day notice before sale of local news outlets to give communities time to organize buyouts
Summary
House Bill 51 would require sellers of local news organizations to provide 120 days’ written notice to employees, local government, and Maryland nonprofits before a sale to an out-of-state buyer, with supporters saying notice could preserve locally owned newsrooms and critics urging clarity on timing and implementation.
House Bill 51, sponsored by Delegate Mary Lehman, would require a 120-day written notice period before the sale of a local news organization to an out-of-state buyer. The measure applies to print, digital, and hybrid outlets and sets criteria for a qualifying “local news organization” to avoid so-called ghost outlets with no local reporting.
Lehman told the Economic Matters Committee the bill is modeled on Illinois legislation and was intended to keep local newsrooms locally owned and provide communities time to prepare acquisition plans or nonprofit bids. “Local news is an important source of information about local government, about public safety, neighborhood issues, schools,…
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