NJN

The Star Ledger got it right last April when it gave a thumb's-up to the NJN management plan to wean “the state's only public television station off the government dole” (Editorial 4/30/07).

The Ledger’s perspective – whose own management knows a little about diminishing revenue sources: “With Gov. Jon Corzine and legislators scouring the budget for savings on every line on every page, the NJN proposal should be embraced - wholeheartedly.”

The plan, championed by soon-to-be-ex NJN Executive Director Elizabeth Christopherson, proposed to transform NJN from a state licensed entity to a community licensed franchise.

At the time and more recently, some inside observers, off-the-record, claimed the station’s real management – the Governor and the legislature – do not have the political will to deal with the static from a unionized workforce.

In a surprise email message to all employees, Elizabeth Christopherson advised the NJN staff of her resignation as its longest-serving Executive Director, effective December 1, 2008.  

In the email released late Monday afternoon, Christopherson wrote:

“I wanted to call a staff meeting at this late hour to share the following news with you in person, but I know so many of you are getting ready for the news and working in preparation for tomorrow’s Election Day coverage.

So I am writing you this email because I want you to hear this news from me. I am scheduling a staff meeting on Wednesday at 2:30 PM., and will let you know where the meeting will be held.

It has been an extraordinary privilege to work with you at NJN and to have contributed to a mission so vital to our state. So it is with a heavy heart that I share with you that I will be resigning effective Monday, December 1, 2008.”

According to the Governor’s press secretary, Sean Darcy, the Governor was “surprised by the announcement.” Darcy stated the Governor did not ask for Christopherson’s resignation.

John Adler and Chris Myers debate on NJN this weekend. Jim Hooker was the moderator.
Tonight on Reporters Roundtable, NJN political reporter Jim Hooker will host a discussion of the Assembly Economic Relief Bill, Gov. Corzine’s economic stimulus speech, the latest New Jersey presidential polls and Bryant Trial testimony.

Discussing the issues will be Kevin McArdle of Millenium Radio; Cynthia Burton of the Philadelphia Inquierer; The Bergen Record’s John Reitmeyer and The Press of Atlantic City’s Derek Harper. 

The media has worked overtime reporting on revenue-raising proposals -- from leasing the state's toll roads to almost anything with a money stream including the lottery -- all in the name of budget balancing. 

Little to no attention has been paid to the notion of leasing the state-owned public broadcast licenses. Depending on who you talk to, estimates range from a few million dollars to more than $100 million dollars. Cha ching!

So it's no wonder the proposed conversion of NJN from a state-licensed facility to a community-licensed one is a bit controversial.

Steering NJN's ship away from rocky financial uncertainty won't be easy. In fact, it may not even be possible according to the some of the folks on deck.

"It's difficult to steer a ship if the crew is in mutiny," stated NJN's Interim News Director Michael Aron.

Aron was commenting on the NJN proposal to transition the station from a state-licensed entity to a community licensed broadcaster.  The audience and the mission of NJN would remain largely unchanged from the perspective of Elizabeth Cristopherson, NJN's executive director. However the station would no longer have to rely on diminishing state funding  (not to mention fickle politics)  to pay its way into the 21st century. 

Despite all the recent downsizing news at The Record and Star Ledger, similar economic pressures at New Jersey's only statewide television station have virtually been ignored by the media. Aside from the headliner early retirements announced and the station's budget proposal to wean itself off state's coffers back in May, very little attention has been paid to the pressing financial predicament at NJN.

"We are at an urgent point in our history," emphasized NJN Executive Director Elizabeth Christopherson. "Being so lean for so many years makes you creative, but it is also like living on an oxygen tank. If you turned it off now, we will not be able to be sustainable."

NJN announced today that Senior Political Correspondent Michael Aron will serve as the network’s Interim Director of News and Public Affairs.

Aron takes over for Bill Jobes, who’s retiring after holding the post for 21 years.

In addition to appearing on NJN’s newscasts, Aron hosts and produces Reporters Roundtable. He often hosts and co-produces On the Record.

Kent Manahan will retire from NJN after 30 years as a reporter and anchor
NJN News anchor Kent Manahan will retire after more than thirty years as an anchor and reporter, the New Jersey Network announced today. Manahan, who has won five Emmy Awards, has filed for the state’s retirement incentive, which has specific deadlines of August 1 or a later date, with the potential of an extension until July 2009. Manahan and NJN are seeking an extension to provide for an orderly transition.

At 6:30 this evening on NJN, PoltickerNJ.com correspondent Matt Friedman will join a political roundtable to discuss New Jersey's current political scene. Friedman will be joined by Gannett New Jersey's Greg Volpe, Politifax's Nick Acocella, and the Bergen Record's Charles Stile, with NJN Senior Political Correspondent Michael Aron hosting the discussion.

The roundtable will recap the state's U.S. Senate primary elections, ongoing budget negotiations, legislative hearings on executive county school superintendents and the possibility that Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's emails to Carla Katz may be made public.

Lautenberg Accepts New Jersey Network Debate Invitation