New Jersey PBS will lay off members of its news team after the Republican-controlled Congress approved a recission package that eliminated funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and following a 75% cut in state funding by the Democratic-controlled New Jersey Legislature.
“We are facing a financial situation that requires us to make the painful decision to reduce the size of the NJ Spotlight News team,” said Neal Shapiro, the CEO of WNET public television, which owns New Jersey PBS, in an email to staff. “This is not a reflection of anyone’s performance or dedication. The scope of the funding loss simply leaves us no choice.”
Shapiro did not identify which employees would lose their jobs or how many would be affected by the budget cuts.
“Those directly affected by this decision will be notified individually, and we will provide as much support as possible,” he said, noting that the station will “continue to serve New Jersey with news and content, as we have for the past fourteen years.
A spokesperson for New Jersey PBS, Deb Falk, said the station will retool.
“While streamlining operations, we are strategizing towards a sustainable, multiplatform, more digital-forward future,” Falk stated.
In March, New Jersey PBS and Spotlight News announced that seven staffers lost their jobs.
Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget proposal reduces state funding to NJ PBS, formerly NJN and NJTV, from $1 million to $250,000. PBS lobbyists were unable to claw back the funding.
In 2011, then-Gov. Chris Christie closed down the state-run New Jersey Network (NJN) and transfer their operations to WNET Channel 13 in New York. NJN had received $4 million in the 2010 budget and offered about 120 employees – many of them members of the Communications Workers of America – state health care and pension benefits.
Christie claimed that the state could no longer afford the cost of running a public television station.
As part of the deal, the state sold its public radio licenses to New York Public Radio and WHYY in Philadelphia for about $4.3 million.
