Wayland Granted Permission to Stop Paying Newspapers to Inform the Masses

Wayland Granted Permission to Stop Paying Newspapers to Inform the Masses

HD.6213, filed by Commissar David Paul Linsky of the 5th Middlesex District and co-sponsored by Senator James B. Eldridge, would allow the town of Wayland to satisfy its legal notice requirements through digital publication alone — ending the mandatory practice of paying print newspapers to announce the People’s business.

Under current Commonwealth law, municipalities must publish legal notices — public hearings, procurement postings, zoning actions — in a local print newspaper of record. This decree exempts Wayland from that obligation, permitting digital-only distribution. The town has already submitted local approval, meaning the Wayland collective has signaled its readiness to leave Gutenberg behind.

The beneficiary is Wayland’s municipal budget, which will no longer route public funds to regional print organs. The cost, such as it is, falls on residents who do not habitually consult the town website and previously relied on print to learn that a variance has been granted to their neighbor’s fence. The People’s information diet is now their own responsibility.