Whitehead-Donovan Corp. v. Herald Publishing Co.

The petitioner, the Norwalk Call, and the contesting newspaper, the Norwalk Herald American, are both newspapers of general circulation for the County of Los Angeles published in the City of Norwalk.. Neither is “printed” in that city, however, since more than 50 per cent of the mechanical work of typesetting of each is done elsewhere. (Gov. Code, §§ 6003, 6004.) Failure to meet this printing requirement prevents their being newspapers of general circulation for the City of Norwalk. Only such newspapers have the significant advantage of being qualified to publish official notices for the City of Norwalk (Gov. Code, §§ 6040, 6041), unless there are no such newspapers, in which case publications may be made in newspapers of general circulation in the nearest jurisdiction. (Gov. Code, § 6042.)

Petitioner seeks a decree declaring it to be a newspaper of general circulation for the city, contending that the Legislature exempted it from the printing requirement when it amended section 6006 of the Government Code in 1961. The effect of this amendment, petitioner contends, is to exempt newspapers that qualified as newspapers of general circulation in 1923 from the printing requirement,…

In accordance with statutory procedure, the petitioner sought a decree declaring it to be a newspaper of general circulation for the City of Norwalk, and the contesting newspaper filed an answer opposing such a decree. (See Gov. Code, §§ 6020-6023; 6027.) The trial court found in favor of petitioner.

The Government Code provides that whenever any official advertising, notice, resolution, order, or other matter is required by law to be published in a newspaper, such publication shall be made only in a “newspaper of general circulation” (§ 6040), and that term is defined in section 6000 as a newspaper for the dissemination of news and intelligence of a general character which has a bona fide subscription list of paying subscribers and has been “established, printed and published” at regular intervals for at least one year preceding publication in the state, county, or city where the publication is to be made. 1 The word “established” is defined as referring to a newspaper which has been in existence under a specified name for the whole of the one-year period. (§ 6002.) Until 1923 a newspaper could qualify as “printed and published ’ ’ within the meaning of the predecessor of…