Maryland plan nixes driveway-tossed free newspapers

A battle is shaping up in Maryland over newspapers’ free distribution via tossing onto driveways.  A state representative is proposing a “Do Not Deliver” registry that would work much like the “Do Not Call” registry for telemarketers, notes Grumpy Editor.

If passed, it would be the first of its type in the nation. 

State delegate Tanya Shewell says her constituents in District 5 (Annapolis) complain that they are ignored when they ask that home delivery of an unsolicited free newspaper be stopped.

Mainly affected would be two-year-old Baltimore Examiner, a free newspaper and Maryland’s largest daily, that delivers about 230,000 of its 250,000 copies to homes six days a week.  (The competing subscription-based Baltimore Sun has 232,138 daily circulation.)

Those opposing the plan worry that it could violate constitutional free speech.

T. Barton Carter, a Boston University media law expert, says the proposal could prove a legal morass.  “Usually, when you’re talking about print media and just delivering it to the outside, that’s not seen as intrusive as calls,” he points out.  If the proposal becomes law, he adds, it would likely trigger a companion “Do Not Deliver” registry for advertisements and other flyers routinely delivered to front door knobs and driveways of homes.

Meanwhile, State Sen. Catherine Pugh declares, “If people are out of town, they can make arrangements for people to pick up materials in their yards.  I just don’t think government needs to do everything.  We can take some responsibility for our own lives.”