DERRY, N.H. — A judge has fined the New Hampshire publisher of a weekly community newspaper $620 after finding her guilty of five misdemeanor counts of running ads for local races without properly marking them as political ads.
The judge had acquitted Debra Paul, publisher of the Londonderry Times, of a sixth criminal charge after a trial in November.
Paul initially faced a maximum penalty of up to one year in prison and a $2,000 fine per charge. But prosecutors did not ask for prison time. Instead, they asked for a fine totaling $3,720, plus 100 hours of community service. Paul's attorney asked for a $500 fine — $100 per charge — saying she already performs service and volunteers in the community. The judge handed down his sentence late on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said they warned her more than once that the ads did not have the required language. They said Paul ignored the warnings.
Her attorney, Anthony Naro, said Paul, who has never had a ticket and earns about $40,000 a year at the newspaper, simply made a mistake and corrected the practice. He also said she has “dedicated her entire professional life to the community” and does volunteer work.
“She did not ignore the law. She misunderstood,” Naro said.
The New Hampshire Attorney General's office sued Paul last year for failing to identify the ads in the correct language identifying them as ads and identifying who paid for them, as required by state law.
The office said it warned her in 2019 and 2021. Last year it received more complaints and reviewed the February and March issues of the newspaper. Two political ads in the run-up to local elections in March did not contain the “paid” language and a third did not have the “political ad” designation, a police statement said.
Shortly after her arrest, the 64-year-old issued a statement saying: “This is clearly a case of a small business having to defend itself against an overreaching government.”
Naro said during her trial that Paul never intended to break the law and tried to follow instructions from the attorney general's office.
Community members came to support her in court and others wrote letters on her behalf, including several newspaper publishers.
“I completely believe Deb when she insists she tried to do the right thing,” wrote Brendan McQuaid, publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader, who met Paul as a fellow member of the New Hampshire Press Association. He noted that many members of the association were “unaware of the strict language requirements set out in the statute.”
State Rep. Kristine Perez of Londonderry, a Republican, spoke in court and said she has been friends with Paul for years. She said she is supporting a bipartisan bill this legislative session that would remove the law's requirement to use the notation “political advertising” in advertisements. She said she is unsure that current law “designates who has responsibility for advertisements placed in the news media.”
Another supporter, Kevin Coyle, an attorney, said he was reminded of the movie “It's a Wonderful Life,” with a main character who doesn't make much money and serves his community.
“That's what Deb Paul is,” he said. “She could have worked in the corporate world and made a lot more money, but she chose her passion, which was reporting.”