Christie: Media have 'deceived' public on legal ads' costs

Gov. Christie is renewing his battle against New Jersey's news media, a month after the state Legislature abandoned a proposal that would have eliminated a requirement that local governments print legal notices in newspapers.

In a letter to legislative leaders Monday, Christie wrote that his office was reviewing how much revenue the state's newspapers generate from legal notices such as proposed ordinances and foreclosures.

"I believe the way you and the public have been deceived on this issue should offend you and lead you to demand honesty from these multibillion dollar companies receiving taxpayer-funded subsidies every  year," Christie wrote.

The governor's displeasure with such "subsidies" is peculiar, given that a cornerstone of his economic policy has been awarding tax credits to companies that move to or relocate within the state. In a striking coincidence, just as Christie's office on Tuesday alerted reporters to his letter, the governor was making an appearance at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, which is run by Cooper Health System.

The New Jersey Press Association's executive director, George White, said that "as promised to legislative leadership," the group will provide an "aggregated statewide number of monies spent for the publication of legal notices for 2016" by the end of the month.

He called Christie's actions "politically motivated" and criticized the governor for engaging "in a stream of tweets and radio tirades" instead of inviting a thoughtful dialogue. "NJPA does not believe this is the way that good public policy is achieved," White said.

In 2014, Christie's Economic Development Authority approved $40 million in tax credits to the health system, provided that it move some 350 back-office jobs from Cherry Hill and Mount Laurel to downtown Camden and create 19 new jobs in the city. The credits are spread over 10 years.

The authority has awarded more than $7 billion in tax credits since Christie took office in 2010.

The legal-notices bill would give local governments the option of publishing the notices on government websites online, a move that newspaper executives argued would enable elected officials to punish journalists who write unflattering stories by threatening to cut off a source of revenue. Moreover, the notices are already published online by the New Jersey Press Association.

Leaders of the Democratic-controlled Legislature last month failed to win enough support for the measure, but Christie's spokesman said it would remain a "top priority" in the new year. At the same time, lawmakers also killed legislation that would have allowed Christie to cash in on a book deal and granted raises to officials across state government.

While pushing the legal-notices bill late last year, Christie repeatedly claimed, without offering evidence, that newspapers received $80 million annually from legal notices. The New Jersey Press Association, by contrast, said a 2011 survey it conducted showed that the figure was about $20 million, one-third of which was paid by governments with taxpayer dollars.

To resolve this "factual difference," Christie wrote Monday, his office reviewed all legal notices published in the Newark Star-Ledger last year and found that they generated $16.6 million in revenue for the newspaper.

Christie said at least $4 million of that total was paid for by private parties, such as for sheriff-sale notices. By law, such notices must be printed in two newspapers, meaning this limited analysis alone shows that the Press Association estimate of $20 million in annual revenue is wrong, Christie wrote.

Richard Vezza, publisher of the Star-Ledger, said Christie's analysis was incorrect. As a private company, though, the paper doesn't release financial data, he said.

The Press Association didn't respond to a request for comment Tuesday. It has argued that governments shouldn't be trusted to preserve mandated notices and that the state's newspaper industry could lose up to 300 jobs if the bill became law.

The governor said his office would continue its "painstaking review" with an analysis of Gannett's 2016 revenue from legal notices. The company owns the Bergen Record, Asbury Park Press, and the Camden Courier-Post, among other New Jersey publications.

The Inquirer receives revenue from legal notices in New Jersey, but the company doesn't disclose specific numbers.

On Monday, North Jersey Media Group — which is owned by Gannett and publishes the Record and other newspapers — announced it was laying off 141 employees.