(TRENTON) – Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland) released the following statement on Tuesday regarding NJTV’s lack of presence during Hurricane Irene:
“This weekend was a time of great need for New Jersey residents, but sadly their own television station was nowhere to be found. Its absence was glaring and unacceptable during a time of great crisis. The people who run NJTV should be embarrassed.
“NJTV promised they would ramp up its efforts and provide quality news coverage for New Jersey, but when the hurricane was approaching and becoming the first to make landfall in the state in more than 100 years, NJTV’s programming had nothing to do with the storm.
“The state certainly received coverage from New York and Philadelphia and national stations, but that coverage also emphasized out-of-state concerns. NJTV promised to focus solely on New Jersey, but residents got nothing from them during the hurricane.
“Public Media NJ Inc. is receiving $6.8 million in annual revenues from grants and lease agreements. At this point, I have to question how that money is being spent and whether it’s time to end this experiment and find a way to return quality New Jersey-centric news to our residents.”