State-Mandated Ads Keep the Old-School Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce Immune to Internet Threat

Down an impossibly steep and narrow set of stairs, the type usually found in an Amsterdam canal house or leading to an especially dark and dusty attic, sits a printing press the size of a large semi truck. Around it are strewn massive spools of newsprint, like rolls of toilet paper on steroids. The ivy-covered brick building in which this apparatus resides stands on the northern edge of Pioneer Square. It belongs to the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, known to its readers as the DJC, a newspaper whose traditional design and editorial content appears as unchanged as this old press room.

Constancy may be the key to success for the DJC. In a world of giveaway new media, the 114-year-old paper retains a franchise that is seemingly untouched by the forces assailing every other print product in town. Yes, a typical issue of the DJC has four or so pages of brief news articles covering real estate, construction, and trade. But the remaining 20 pages are nearly all classified advertisements—a remarkable figure considering that virtually every other publication in the nation has seen its classifieds looted by Craigslist and other free online listing sites.

The key is that this isn't standard classified fare—people selling '85 Hondas and unused Bowflex machines. Instead, much of the DJC is dominated by what are known as public notices.

Nearly as old as American laws themselves, public notices are mandated in every state, and for the most part, are meant to do just what their name implies: notify the public of matters of legal importance. "In some cases these were the first things that newspapers ran," says Mort Goldstrom, vice president of advertising at the Newspaper Association of America. There are literally hundreds of different types. Local governments may publish notice of an upcoming public hearing. The bank foreclosing on a property will publish an ad to notify residents (in addition to using the mail). Lawyers are required to place probate notices to alert potential creditors about the death of a person who may have unpaid bills.

"[The public-notice system] was designed years ago when newspapers were the best way to reach everybody," says Bruce Rowe, a general-practice attorney based in Renton who specializes in real estate, wills, and probate. "But it's not the most effective way to actually get notice in this day and age."

Maybe not. But thanks in part to Revised Code of Washington Chapter 65.16, which outlines requirements for the aforementioned processes—and which shows no sign of being "revised" again soon—the DJC is living large. You can get 12 months of The Seattle Times for $150, but a year's subscription to the DJC runs $220. And it's another $210 to view the content online.

On a sleepy Friday afternoon at the DJC's offices, the paper's sandy-haired publisher, Phil Brown, is dressed in a black polo and khaki slacks. He is the fourth generation of his family to take the DJC helm since his great-grandfather bought into the newspaper business just after the turn of the century. But he looks as if he would be just as comfortable on the PGA tour as in the newsroom. Brown, who started at the family business in 1984 as a reporter shortly after graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in economics, points out that public notices are not unique to the DJC.

"There's lots of other publications all over the city, county, and state that are publishing public notices all the time," he says. The DJC's advantage, he says, is "We've been doing it for a long time, and have provided good customer service. That's been the way to get repeat customers."

In fact there are 40 publications in King County alone, ranging in size from the Capitol Hill Times to The Seattle Times, that are certified by the county clerk as "legal papers," meaning they meet the broad state criteria required to print legal notices. The most stringent requirement: A paper must contain "news of general interest." In most states, says Goldstrom, there's also "some quota or percentage of people in the municipality that the paper has to reach." But Washington has no such requirement. The print edition of the DJC has a circulation of about 4,000, according to Brown.

In certain cases, such as a summons for a paternity hearing, the plaintiff in the suit may dictate which paper is used. But you need only look at the classified sections of the 39 other "legal papers" in town (including Seattle Weekly) to see that the DJC mostly dominates the public-notice market.

"It's less expensive," says attorney Rowe. "I don't know of any newspaper in the state that's as inexpensive as the DJC [to print notices in]." (Though our research into rates indicates that may not necessarily be true.)

There can be other advantages to tucking away your notice on p. 19 of the DJC. In the case of probate notices, for example, state law requires that they be published for three consecutive weeks. After that, creditors have four months to petition the deceased's estate for payment. If they miss the deadline, those managing the estate are actually prohibited from paying.