Did you hear about the latest PSE&G rate increase approved by the BPU on Monday?  Probably not.  That's because only the Ledger reported the story, inside its business section. 

 

Here's the topline:

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Apparently size matters where the Governor’s concerned. He’s proposed reducing aid to local towns less than 10,000 residents and slashing it completely for communities smaller than 5,000.

As reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer this week: ”The governor says that governments for small municipalities are among the root causes of New Jersey's property taxes, which are the highest in the nation. He has suggested that some towns merge.”

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Yesterday’s column raised a few questions on the impact of the Governor’s proposal to charge rural communities who are protected by the NJ State Police. So we thought we’d ask the Administrative Office of the Courts for the answers.

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With dismal revenue predictions for the state now capturing the headlines, the focus appears to be shifting to the unpopular subject of budget cuts.

Republicans legislators should be happy.  They claim they have been calling for cuts for far too long and the press has been unwilling to yield real estate to the issue.  In fact, Republican staffers have developed a cut list – although some of the slices lack specific line-by-line cost savings. Read More >

When it comes to BPU President Jeanne Fox’s reappointment, Gannett’s Bob Ingle and Gregory Volpe have been working overtime.

Based on recent coverage, it appears the Gannett chain is the only NJ newspaper paying close attention to the current storyline about Fox’s day-in-court-defense to a whistle blower complaint and the pending Senate review of her reappointment as Board President.

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Maybe it’s too much to ask the press to try to keep a politician honest. But at a minimum, reporters should at least hold elected officials accountable for what they say.

Turn back the pages on the calendar by just a few weeks and almost every legislator in Trenton was bemoaning the Governor’s debt restructuring plan. Despite logging hundreds of miles up and down the Turnpike and Parkway after his State of the State address, the Governor failed to convince the public that toll hikes were the way to drive New Jersey out of its fiscal hole. Read More >

Maybe it’s too much to ask the press to try to keep a politician honest. But at a minimum, reporters should at least hold elected officials accountable for what they say.

Turn back the pages on the calendar by just a few weeks and almost every legislator in Trenton was bemoaning the Governor’s debt restructuring plan. Despite logging hundreds of miles up and down the Turnpike and Parkway after his State of the State address, the Governor failed to convince the public that toll hikes were the way to drive New Jersey out of its fiscal hole.

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Governor Corzine’s new communications director, Deborah Howlett, took some time during her brief hiatus to answer our questions about her new role, the job offer and her transition from reporter to public servant. The Q&A conversation was on the record, but is not a verbatim transcript of the interview.

How do you go from aggressively covering the governor to aggressively defending the governor?

First of all, if his communications staff is defending him, there’s a problem. What he’s trying to do shouldn’t need defending.

And that’s not why he hired me.

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Last in a five-part series on the revolving door between journalism and government in New Jersey. Yesterday, Debbie Holtz wrote about the state of the New Jersey news industry.

To wrap up PolitickerNJ.com's five part series on the post employment questions that arise when former journalists transition to government and political positions, we surveyed newspapers covering the Garden State about their ethical practices and policies.

We asked questions about the transparency of their codes of conduct, post-employment provisions, and how they protect sources after their journalists leave for greener pastures.

Aside from a few polite “no thank you’s”, most of the fourteen news organizations we surveyed did not respond.

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Fourth in a five-part series on the revolving door between journalism and government in New Jersey. Yesterday, Debbie Holtz asked if reporters protect their former sources when they move from journalism to working for politicians.

Gov. Jon Corzine's new Communications Director is a Star-Ledger reporter who has covered him for the last three years These days, it seems like a week does not pass by without news of red ink running through daily newspapers. Is the troubled financial condition of the newspaper industry driving more and more reporters to PR jobs?

“Anyone who reads the business section of the newspaper knows the current climate,” explained Dr. Barbara Reed, a professor of Journalism at Rutgers University. “Everyone in journalism is aware of the current climate and we are all very worried.

“Whether it is the New York Times, the LA Times, the Chicago Tribune or the Miami Herald – and these are among the best 10 papers in America - they are all experiencing hard times. It’s a very hard place to be in because the advertising is drying up.”

Back in and around New Jersey, the picture isn’t any rosier.

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