Opinion ID: 2063068
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Public Broadcasting Authority Act

Text: The balance, fairness and equity provision and the prohibition against political activities, N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) and -9, respectively, clearly prohibit the Authority from becoming an advocate for any political position or candidate. The Authority cannot endorse candidates or legislation and it cannot actively use its stations to advance its views on the public issues of the day. The Legislature envisioned full, balanced discussion of public issues. The Legislature's need to mandate balance was obvious. As discussed, supra at 123-24, a Governor plays a substantial role in appointment of Authority personnel. Not only does he appoint the members of the Commission, which is the head of the authority, N.J.S.A. 48:23-2, but he must approve the Commission's designee for Executive Director and he retains the power to dismiss him. To eliminate the resulting risk that the Authority might become politicized, the Legislature enacted precautionary measures. The provisions are intended to eliminate any appearance of impropriety. The Legislature must have recognized that the public perception that a Governor was using the Authority to advance his own political ends would be almost as damaging as the reality, both to New Jersey public broadcasting and to New Jersey politics in general. Finally, regardless of the danger of improper influence, it was deemed inappropriate for the Authority to use its stations to advance particular political positions or candidates. The Authority seeks a narrow construction of these provisions. The prohibition in N.J.S.A. 48:23-9 against supporting or opposing any political party or candidate for public office could be read merely to prohibit actual endorsement or financial contributions, and the balance, fairness and equity language of N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) could be interpreted to be a mere restatement of the fairness doctrine of the Federal Communications Act. [9] We do not believe that so narrow a construction was intended. The State statutory standards, though not necessarily inconsistent with the federal standards relating to fairness, are more expansive. In the present context, they encompass a duty to cover elections in a balanced fashion. Because of the weighty considerations underlying the Authority's duty to provide balanced coverage and in light of N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39, to be discussed presently, we hold that N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) mandates balance, fairness and equity in the Authority's coverage of the gubernatorial candidates. Similarly, we believe that since a substantial imbalance in the Authority's election coverage can have the same effect as an actual endorsement, N.J.S.A. 48:23-9 also encompasses a balance, fairness and equity constraint on Authority election coverage.