“We need to do something,” said Joe Amditis, associate director for the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, one of the schools involved in the effort. Prospective projects would require collaboration with one of several state universities, and applicants would have to show how their work would benefit a community. Proponents initially sought $100 million from the more than $330 million that New Jersey made from auctioning the licenses of two public broadcasting stations last year. Public broadcasting has been a frequent target of conservatives who have sought to cut taxpayer funding and leveled accusations of liberal bias. Some say one journalistic bright spot in New Jersey is an emerging ecosystem of smaller organizations spread across the state, covering communities at a granular level.

Source: New York Times July 30, 2018 21:39 UTC