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Thursday, July 31, 2008

NJ TV may cut 40% of staff

 The Public Broadcasting Authority that runs TV channels 23, 52, and other public news and arts programming in New Jersey will have to cut 70 of 150 jobs due to state budget cuts, executive director Elizabeth Christopherson told staff in an email yesterday.
  "If layoffs do occur, the effective date will be on or about December 1," she wrote, adding her board feels "great regret" at the cuts.
  The threatened layoffs follow a controversial proposal by the authority to move the state-owned stations into an independent community foundation. The union representing state TV employees, CWA Local 1032, is fighting the plan because it would likely mean watering down the news, says union organizer Dudley Burdge
   The state TV budget is being cut to $15 million from $19 million as part of Gov. Corzine's attempts to cut costs, said Stephanie Hoopes-Halpin, a political economist who serves on the public TV commission. The cuts fall disprortionately on the stations' "talented" staff and "excellent" programming because power and operating costs can't be cut, she said. The stations already get more money from private than public sources, but Hoopes-Halpin said an independent foundation could raise money more easily. 
  She said the authority hopes to avoid the cuts. "There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes and privately" to raise funds from government and private sources.
    
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About Joseph N. DiStefano
Joseph N. DiStefano writes this blog to feed his PhillyDeals column in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Joe has been a member of Bloomberg LP’s New York Finance Team, wrote the book “Comcasted,” taught writing at St. Joseph’s University, and studied economics and history at Penn. Reach Joe at 215-854-5194 and JoeD@phillynews.com
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