What role do newspapers play? 

Newspapers are a community forum. That role does not change with the manner in which you receive local news important to you. 

- Newspapers have proved to be a lifeline of community news vital to the public during the pandemic; instead of killing the messengers, counties and cities should continue running legal notices in newspapers and help maintain this vital line of communication to the local community.

Limiting public notice to government websites is a Bad Idea.

Because as many as one-third of North Carolinians do not have internet access, can't afford it, and would not visit government operated websites even if they had internet access.  These efforts to LIMIT public notice would bury public notices on a website that few if any citizens visit and effectively would kill the public's right to know.     

These measures put local governments into private business, expanding government reach. Posting of public notices to government sites is not a healthy option for democracy. Newspapers are an independent third party responsible for printing and archiving a permanent record of these public notices - who would be held accountable if these notices were only required to post on a government run website?