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FROM THE EVANS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The

Electronic

Hallway

Box 353060 · University of Wash

ington · Seattle WA

98195- 3060

www.hallway.org

This

case was prepared in 1987 for the National Association of Educational Broadcasters by Dan H. Fenn, Jr., retired

faculty of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and faculty for the Cascade Center for

Public Service

Executive Programs. This case study is intended as a basis for class discussion and is not intended to

suggest correct or incorrect handling of the situation depicted.

The Electronic Hallway is administered by the University of Washington's

Daniel J.

Evans School of Public Affairs. This

material may not be altered or copied without written permission from The Electronic Hallway.

For permission, email

[email protected]

, or phone (206) 616-

8777.

Electronic Hallway members are granted copy permission for

educational purposes per Member’s Agreement (

www.hallway.org

A CHANGE OF MANAGEMENT

After the announcement of his successor as Executive Director of New Jersey Public Television

(NJPTV) on March 20, 1979, Dr. Lawrence T. Frymire busied himself cleaning up the loose

ends of the position which he had held since

the system had become operational some nine

years before. Looking ahead to April 30, his last day in office, he still wondered what had

happened --

why the Commissioners of the Public Broadcasting Authority had suddenly

requested his resignation some four mon

ths before.

The newspapers thought they had the answer: Governor Brendan T. Byrne was seeking to

establish political control over the state's public broadcasting system. As evidence, they noted

that the leading contenders fo

r the job were

Herbert Wolfe,

Byrne's first information director,

and former Democratic Assemblyman Gordon MacInnes, both politically involved with the

Governor. Frymire thought the pap

ers might be right -- but he was not completely sure.

NJPTV had come into existence in 1969

as the result of a citizens' study made in 1967-68 at

the instigation of then Governor Richard J. Hughes. Governor Hughes had requested a

distinguished group of 18 men and women including the Provost of Princeton, the Poetry Editor

of the Saturday Review, five members of his cabinet and TV personalities like Dallas Townsend

and Dionne Warwick to produce a set "of policies, plans and recommendations for the

development of public radio and television for the state." To head the Commission he selected

Dr. Edward J.

Meade, Jr., then Program Officer in charge of Public Education for the Ford

Foundation.

The Commission issued its report in May, 1968 and the Governor quickly followed through

with its recommendations, filing the nec

essary legislation

to establish a

Public Broadcasting

Authority. Late that year, the Act was passed and signed, and the Governor made the first

appointments of ten public members which were duly confirmed by the Senate. In addition, five

cabinet members (Commissioner of Education, State Treasurer, Chancellor of Higher

A Change Of Management

Education, Attorney General and Commissioner of Community Affairs) served ex officio. The

first Chairman was Dr. Meade; the Vice-Chairman was George Connett, Vice President for

personnel administration of the Prudential Insura

nce Company. (Other members, and those

appointed by subsequent Governors, are listed in Attachment 1.)

The Commission plan recommended a capital budget of $16 million, half to be raised in a bond

issue and the other half to come from federal funds, and an annual operating budget of about $6

million. However, the plan was reduced to $7.5 million in capital, financed totally by a bond

issue, and the operating budget to barely $6 million. By the fall of ‘69, a new Governor,

William J. Cahill took office.

While somewhat interested, Cahill was not as enthusiastic about

the project as had been his predecessor. Wanting to see the station for himself, the new

Governor made a visit to the rebuilt bowling alley in a rural area outside Trenton which served

as headquarters for the fledgling operation. To make sure he saw something more than just

empty space, Chairman Meade persuaded RCA to lend some equipment to provide the flavor

of an actual operating station.

The Governor then decided to proceed with the idea,

but more slowly than had been originally

planned because of the financially and politically controversial nature of the undertaking. As

with any major new program in New Jersey, the legislature was especially wary of this one,

uncertain as they were that it could be run

in a non-political, non-partisan fashion.

About this time, Dr. Meade and the Authority began conducting a search for a person to head

up the staff and get the station on the air. After an extensive search, the position was offered to

Dr.

Larry Frymire, a professor of communications at the University of Illinois, who had done a

study for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, worked for the FCC, and worked on the

New Jersey legislation setting up the Authority.

In selecting Frymire, Meade was impressed by his high degree of technical competence and his

intimate knowledge of the administrative steps necessary to put a station on the air. "I didn't

know a tube from a transmitter," Meade said later. In addition, given the potentially

controversial

nature of the effort, the Authority wanted a person of extraordinary integrity and

prudence, someone who did not seek or attract personal visibility but who would rather

concentrate his energies in a steady and

well-

organized way on the launching

and operation of

the station.

Initially Frymire turned Meade down, but by early spring of 1970, with capital funds of $7.5

million and an operating budget of $2.2 million assured, he decided to leave Illinois and take on

the responsibility on June 15, 1970.

By April of 1971, he had Channel 52 in Trenton (the State

capitol) on the air; Channel 23 in Camden followed in October of 1973 and Channels 58 (New

Brunswick) and 50 (Montclair) started operation in June of 1974.

In those first few months, following

the recommendations of the study, the Commissioners made

a number of key policy decisions. First of all, they decided to focus programming on the State

A Change Of Management

of New Jersey, rather than on regional, national or international events and interests. They

recognized full well that northern New Jersey was considered by many to be the flagship of

educational broadcasting. Similarly, the southern part of the state had access to the Philadelphia

commercial stations and to Channel 12. Thus they

were faced from the sta

rt with staunch

competition. To make matters worse, they were UHF in a state where few sets were equipped

to pick up that signal; they were brand new; they had to meet the interests of an area with

marked sectional differences, especially between north and south Jersey; and they had no real

constituency, or enthusiastic base of support in the state. Given this situation, the decision to

aim programs at the state itself rather than the region seemed a necessary one.

Secondly, in the face of potential pol

itical difficulties, the Commissioners prohibited staff from

lobbying the legislature in Trenton. Clearly, they could and should respond to initiatives from

elected officials, but the Commission reserved for itself the contacts with the New Jersey

elected

political leadership. (In May, 1977, this prohibition was lifted for Frymire as the

Authority matured and the lack of such contacts began hindering them in the annual competition

for budget support among the various state agencies.)

Third, they decided that they should not

exercise any direct personnel authority themselves.

While they required Larry Frymire to submit a staffing pattern as well as an annual budget for

their review, the selection of people to fill the

various authorized positions was left

solely to his

discretion. Though all staff members came from the state's civil service system, only the clerical

personnel were to come off registers and have tenure. When politicians and other public figures

would suggest people to be appo

inted to the

station, Commissioners would simply accept a

resume and pass it along to Frymire and his staff for decision.

Finally, they determined that they would not involve themselves in specific program decisions,

although program policy -- balance of different kinds of

shows, overall quality, New Jersey

emphasis, etc. --

would concern them. At the same time, they encouraged Frymire to seek

outside funding sources in order to expand their offerings. As part of his early effort, Frymire

worked with a group of people who were

supportive of public broadcasting. Early in 1971, the

Friends of New Jersey Public Broadcasting was formed and incorporated with its own Board

and set of activities in support of NJPTV.

The first years were very difficult indeed. Budgets continued to be small (annual promotion

allocation, for example, was typically $25,000) and added production equipment was hard to

come by. Nevertheless, as the Authority’s 1977 annual report showed, the progress was

steady. Though explicitly not a national

production center, NJPTV believed it was the most

active local-

production educational station in the nation with nearly 30% of its prime-

time hours

filled with its own material. During the first year the station was awarded the Alfred I. DuPont

Columbia Award,

the first in a long run of national recognition that was to come their way.

In 1974, according to an Eagleton Institute survey, NJPTV was attracting 940,000 viewers. By

1977, the number had grown to over 1.5 million New Jersey viewers, plus over 50

0,000

A Change Of Management

students being served by the NJPTV educational services division. In addition, over 2,000

students enrolled in eleven New Jersey colleges in televised credit courses, as well as business

and industry, were served by three courses

required for middle

management training purposes.

News and sports continued to do particularly well. All in all, most observers and the

Commission felt NJPTV was doing solid and respectable programming, highlighted by some

especially appealing shows. Annually

established

objectives (1) for the system were regularly

met, with the exception of the implementation of the Commission's desire for a more effective

development program and of the establishment of a new headquarters. But, as Frymire pointed

out, state-supported sys

tems generally have little success raising money from private sources

because they are perceived as being well-supported with taxpayer dollars.

From all appearances, there was no reason for Frymire to feel anything but pleased with the

work he had done and

there was no indication that the Commissioners were anything but

satisfied with the enterprise over which they presided. With few exceptions through the years,

the Commissioners did not appear to him to be participating in any NJPTV activities other than

the Board and Committee meetings, although there were, in fact, a number of informal meetings

and telephone conversations between many of them from time to time. It was left to the

Chairman, Vice Chairman and Frymire to carry on the

business of the Auth

ority. Their public

meetings, held for two or three hours every two months, addressed constraints, reports on the

various divisions of NJPTV, and plans to expand service through both technical additions and

new locations for crews and cameras.

So everyth

ing stood until the election, in 1974, of a new Governor, Brendan T. Byrne. It was

not long before both Meade and Frymire became aware that the new Governor, or at least

some people close to him, looked with considerable disfavor on the nature and direction of

NJPTV:

•

Byrne called Meade shortly after his election on another topic, and did some

probing about Frymire. "How good is that fellow Frymire?" the Governor

asked. “Very good," was Meade's response, "despite fiscal constraints and

freezes on

pers

onnel.”

•

Two close political friends of the new Governor, former CBS-TV

New York

Commentator, Jerome Wilson, who was to become producer-host of WNET's

new weekly program,“Dateline New Jersey," and Richard Leone of Princeton’s

Woodrow Wilson School, and

subsequently State Treasurer (thus a member of

the NJPTV Commission), met with Meade to discuss the situation. Both men

were very critical especially of the quality of the public affairs programming.

Given inadequate budgets and continuing struggles by s

taff to keep a

respectable operation going, Meade was not especially receptive to their

complaints.

A Change Of Management

•

Leone, who was interested in the field, and had done a study of cable TV,

showed no confidence in the Eagleton Institute audience studies, stating that he

simply did not believe that NJPTV had the audiences it claimed. He felt it was

not adequately

related to its particular market.

•

At the first formal meeting between the Commissioners, Frymire and Governor

Byrne, the Governor was presented with a tennis bag with the legend: “I Love

New Jersey Public Television.” “Huh,” snorted

the Governor, “I'm

not sure

love it!”

In spite of the tone of this encounter, no overtly threatening actions ensued, although the

Governor did begin to appoint a different type of person to the Authority than had his

predecessors (see Attachment 1). Frymire didn’t sense anyt

hing more direct than vague hints

that the new leadership was dissatisfied with his stewardship. The Commissioners, at least the

veteran ones, appeared to Frymire to be as supportive as ever. What he was not aware of,

however, was the rumblings of dissatisfaction being expressed in conversations among the

Commissioners. Since no formal meetings were set up to discuss the complaints with him or to

lodge any formal complaints, Frymire assumed all was well.

Furthermore, Frymire felt some satisfaction and r

elief that the Governor seemed to be very

pleased by the results of his first “call-

in” report to the people over NJPTV airwaves. The

volume of calls was so huge that the telephone company was crippled. Each time the Governor

returned every three or four months to repeat the format, the results were the same, proving to

the Governor, as he said to Frymire, that NJPTV

did indeed have a sizable state-wide

audience.

Then two events occurred which seemed to Frymire to signal that the incipient dissatisfaction

might erupt into specific negative actions. The first came as part of the budget cycle in 1975;

the second was the sudden enthusiasm on the part of the Administration and Commissioners for

a combined news show with WNET

which would replace NJPTV's

own p

rogram.

For years, New Jersey had been able to avoid a state income tax, but Governor Byrne felt, in

view of the State’s perilous financial picture, that the time had come. When it was not

forthcoming, he was faced with a $285 million deficit

in the state

budget and, pointing out New

Jersey’s constitutional balanced budget requirement, he said he would have to cut expenses.

Following precedent established by many political leaders before him, he slashed the most

visible and popular accounts: the extension service, libraries, mental institutions and so on.

Public television's request was cut from $3.8 million to $1 million, a figure clearly below the

minimum needed to maintain operation. Although the Commissioners ultimately persuaded the

Governor and the

legislature to restore their allocation to $3 million, the Authority went through

a painful and debilitating exercise responding to both the threatened cut and to the Governor's

instructions to come up with an alternative

method of providi

ng services to

the people of the

state.

A Change Of Management

To many observers, including Frymire, the Governor’s action and attitude appeared to be

something more than standard political budgetmanship. They wondered if it was not a

deliberate threat on the Governor's part, a warning that unless they became more responsive to

his concepts, he would move against them. Some saw his behavior as the first serious attempt

to shake up public broadcasting in New Jersey and force it to rethink its mission. At a

minimum, it seemed to be a vote of no confidence in the Authority’s staff leadership.

The second incident involved the station's news program, far and away the most popular show it

had on the air. Called "New Jersey News Report,” it offered a half-hour week-

night review of

up to 35 "hard"

news stories about New Jersey happenings and personalities, including weather

stations (commercial and educational) which showed virtually no interest in their New Jersey

constituency. There was no attempt at analysis, little feature material, and its budget did not

permit it to become as slick as regular commercial shows. Even so, it was extremely popular in

southern New Jersey, an established, mostly UHF area (unlike its northern counterpart). The

show was clearly the star performer for NJPTV, and represented the best audience builder they

had.

Much to the surprise of Frymire and the staff, in the fall of 1976, Channel 13 suddenly offered

to provide $1 million for a jointly produced nightly

half-

hour show which would be carried on

both WNET and NJPTV. NJ

PTV would contribute $1.5 million. The show would be

controlled by an independent editorial board to be selected by both stations. When it became

very clear that the Governor and his appointees on the Authority favored the idea, some staff

members suspected that

the initiative for the whole idea had, in fact, come from Trenton.

Certainly it was true that Governor Byrne had asked the General Manager of WNET "When

are you guys finally going to do something about New Jersey coverage?"

Dr. Meade and the

staff both took a stand in opposition to the initial proposal, but as it was

refined, the Chairman became increasingly supportive, favoring at least a detailed exploration,

and Frymire became increasingly opposed. In a memorandum to the Commissioners in late

December, 1976 -- nearly two months a

fter the first discussions

of the plan -- Frymire wrote:

We have not, due to time factors, given joint study to any other proposals or to

any budget less than the $2.5 million proposed by Channel 13. There are other

alternatives which would, in my opinion, bring significantly improved coverage

of New Jersey through joint use of the $1 million offered by Channel 13 in the

news proposal. Staff will ask you to consider some of them today.

But first, unless Channel 13

accepts the positions below, I recommend that the

Authority reject the Channel 13 joint news proposal.

The joint news proposal should be rejected on the basis of the requirement for

Channel 13 to provide $1 million contingent upon NJPTV providing $1.5

A Change Of Management

million and giving up control of NJPTV's most important program service to an

equally weighted editorial board. Under any circumstances, the Executive

Producer should be in charge of the daily operation of the news program, but he

should be responsible to the NJPTV Director of News and Public Affairs for

administrative functions and through him to any editorial board for policy

matters. To do otherwise would be to create severe personnel and

management problems for NJPTV administration and for the Author

ity itself.

The joint news proposal should be rejected due to the negative impact it would

have on NJPTV audience building efforts for Channel 50 and Channel 58.

"I did not want to give our top programs to

our principal competitor in that

part of our

market."

Frymire said later. "Furthermore, I had a series of other options for joint ventures, other ways

to use that $1 million from WNET which I thought would be much better from our standpoint.

For example, I thought we could staff up our Newark studio and co-

produce selected

programs with WNET in both the cultural and public affairs areas; or we could expand both the

equipment and manpower in the Newark facility significantly and let WNET use it two days a

week. In that way, I thought we could make the Newark operation really operational, maintain

our own control over our popular news show, avoid all the problems of a continuing joint

production effort, and sidestep the need to allocate or raise additional dollars. But I could

hardly get the Commissioners to listen to me, much

less take my ideas seriously. I think my

attitude on all this left some Commissioners alienated, feeling that I was being obstructionist."

Ultimately, the Commissioners voted to enter into negotiations with WNET along the general

lines of their proposal, and a negotiating committee of Commissioners subsequently worked out

an agreement. Frymire participated, but had no vote. The staff was given the responsibility of

hammering out a specific contract which some Commissioners later felt gave away more control

than they needed to. The new program was on the air in May, 1978 (2).

The difficulties over the WNET arrangement were followed by a series of events. For example,

Senate President Joseph Merlino of Trenton, characterized

as the “second

most powerful man

in the state,” put in a bill which would require the Governor approve the Minutes of the

Authority before any of their actions could take effect. Frymire suspected that his antagonism

developed out of a pair of incidents:

•

An NJPTV reporter asked Senator Merlino a question as he came out of a

session. Apparently it offended him because he turned on him and said "You

are an employee of the state, and you have no right to ask me that kind of

question.”

•

Mrs. Merlino, in

charge of the annual state teenage art festival, asked the station

to cover a portion of the event in which she had particular interest, but was told

they could not do so on what was only a single day’s notice.

A Change Of Management

It was during this period, 1976-

78, that some

observers noted a growing difference of opinion

between Frymire and members of the Authority over a variety of issues. Some felt that it was

the legacy of what they saw as the continuing resistance of the staff to the WNET idea even

after it became obvious that the Commissioners wanted to go ahead. Others felt that Frymire

was not sensitive enough to the public relations activities of the station, that the press they were

getting was neither adequate, nor imaginative enough, and that the PR staff was not

sufficiently

active or energetic.

Following that was a lengthy series of discussions at Authority meetings about the opposition of

staff to the broadcasting of certain public service announcements. In 1973, the Secretary of

State called to ask that the station air a series of announcements about where and how to

Manager. The Secretary ultimately complained to Chairman Meade and his announcements

were broadcast.

In 1978, a task force, made up of Commissioners, Friends and staff, was established to

conduct a one year, lo

ng-range review of

the Station’s fiscal and physical planning. As a part of

that effort, the issue of the Community Services

Department came up. Disbanded in 1976 in

response to a $390,000 reduction in state funds, Community Services was now being given

serious consideration for revival. Authority meeting discussion of the task force findings are

exerpted below from the May, 1978 Authority Minutes:

Once again the issue relating to the disbanding of the Department of Community

Services two years ago was discussed. Dr. Frymire thanked both Mr.

Aumente and Commissioner Broadwater for their input. The question is how

NJPTV should respond to community groups and organizations. Dr. Frymire

reported that NJPTV is performing the essential functions and he recommended

that no further specific staff be allocated at this time. He is sensitive to these

needs as are the Executive Staff, Programming Department and the new

Executive Assistant will also be assigned these duties.

Dr. Meade added that community service is a function distributed throughout

NJPTV and, therefore, we are responding without any specific staff allocated to

such service.

Commissioner

Broadwater felt that it is too much to expect the Executive

Director to reach out to maintain contact with people in the community, but Dr.

Frymire assured her that we have a responsible staff and both

Focal Point

and

Express Yourself

are Black shows that are produced through this type of

contact and also our Spanish speaking staff are responding to such needs

through the

Images Latinas

programs.

A Change Of Management

Dr. Frymire added that news and public affairs programs also deal with

community-

oriented subjects.

Chairman

Meade said we do not have the capacity to meet all the community

needs but we are doing more local programming than other PBS stations and

that there are other services we deliver besides programming.

Mr. Aumente (representing the Chancellor of Higher Education --

ed.) said that

he agreed with the Task Force recommendation and he still feels we need a

Community Services Department in our budget. He is aware of the fact that we

do not have the resources for it but he felt that to drop the search for a solution

would be bad and that dialogue should continue on this subject.

More important, however, were the growing problems with Commissioner Stephen Adubato

who opposed Frymire from his first day as a member of the Authority. Characterized as a

feisty, brig

ht, street-

smart, effective community leader in Newark, Adubato wanted NJPTV to

broadcast more ethnic programs and, according to some observers, felt that the station’s

programming department was unresponsive and did not take his concern seriously. Others

traced his growing antagonism to the fall of 1977 when his brother, an Assemblyman, was

embarrassed on a candidate’s show when one of his opponents suddenly pulled out a plucked

chicken, waved it before the camera, and said that

this is what the current

incumbent was doing

to his constituents.

Whatever the source of the antagonism, it was overt. Adubato suggested to Frymire that he

resign when they met September 12, 1978 at the first Authority meeting he had attended in

nearly a year.

Shortly before the regular Authority meeting scheduled for September 12, 1978, Commissioner

Adubato called Chairman Meade and said he was planning to offer a motion of no-confidence

in Larry Frymire. Meade suggested to him that the situation be reviewed instead.

Consequen

tly, at the September meeting, the Commissioners went into executive session for an

hour, emerging to vote favorably on a motion made by Commissioner Adubato calling for "a

committee to evaluate the management requirements for the

future in relation to

the goals which

have been established by the Authority.” Dr. Meade then appointed a committee to be headed

by vice Chairman George Connet and to be made up of Adubato, Attorney General John

Degnan (Governor Byrne’s onetime chief counsel and chief of staff, a

ttending his first meeting of

the Authority) and Robert Comstock (Governor Byrne’s former press secretary, also attending

his first meeting).

“I saw that action as a real challenge, not at all as a threat,” Larry Frymire said later. “I was

assured by Geo

rge Connett that it was not a ‘get Frymire’ move, but a serious and responsible

attempt to look at our situation in light of the future needs of NJPTV.

A Change Of Management

"Furthermore, I knew that we had met all of our stated goals and objectives, with the exception

of the new headquarters building, that almost all

the recommendations coming from

a long-range

planning task force of the Authority, and the

Friends and Staff

had been adopted and put in

place, and that the establishment of a Long-Ra

nge Planning Committee of the Authority insured

continuing self-

analysis. Only last June, we had held a day-long intensive

review of our

programming, and in August we spent another full day reviewing other functions with the

Commissioners. No serious criticisms were raised, and we all agreed on a set of positive plans,

which have been or are being implemented.

“As the process went along, I saw no reason to be concerned. The group told me their meeting

with the Associate Executive Director was ‘frank and positive’, and their meeting

with the

director of programming was ‘friendly and good.’ My session featured a 45 minute harangue

by Adubato, so it didn't really go anywhere and the Chairman adjourned it. But the next time

lasted an hour and a half and it was a good discussion.

“I really can't figure out what is Adubato's problem, what he wants. He talks about being

dissatisfied with the Newark coverage, both before and after the establishment of a new WNET

show. He wants more ethnic programming, but our Black and Hispanic staff have

been

producing half-

hour weekly programs for nine years. He's a volatile man with strong opinions

who has provided a unique service for the people of Newark; a real self-made leader. But I

don't know really what he wants. When he asked me to resign back in September, all he said

was: 'changing needs and changing times --

people ought to recognize that, and move on.'"

It was after Frymire’s second meeting with the Connett Committee that he began to feel he had

reason to be concerned. Connett, an old f

riend and supporter, drew him aside and said, "You

know, Larry, we’ve been getting a lot of negative vibes from a lot of people about NJPTV and

its management. People just don't know you, and even the Friends aren’t positive." Frymire

pointed out that he didn’t always agree with the Friends, and the discussion ended there.

In November, 1978, the Board, at its regular meeting, went into executive session to receive an

interim report from the Committee. Discussion was limited to

a review of a list

of interviews that

had been held, and those that the Committee planned to conduct. The group reported that they

hoped to finish their work by mid-

December.

A few weeks later, Frymire, who had heard nothing further of or from the Committee, called

Meade to ask

him what was going on and to suggest that a meeting be held. In early

December, Connett and the Committee met with Frymire and then asked Meade to call a

special executive session of the Board to hear its report. At the ensuing session, held shortly

thereafter, the Commissioners met in executive session for about an hour to hear and discuss the

Committee's report, and Frymire talked to them for about an hour, reviewing his

accomplishments and the challenges ahead. They then went back into executive session for

another hour. The Commissioners, for their part, had two complaints, as Frymire recalled:

A Change Of Management

They said I was not a statewide personality, that no one knows me among the state's

leadership. Therefore, NJPTV was not well known. They said I had not success

fully

penetrated the business and foundation community for financial support. I pointed out

that no one in the other

state-supported systems has either.

That’s all they said, but it was clear that the situation was untenable. It was kind of like

trying to get rid of a superintendent of schools or a minister. No one wants him around,

but no one wants to hurt him either. So I talked to Meade, and told him I would resign.

The Associate Executive Director resigned too, and we’ll both be gone by April 30.

On March 20, 1979, the Authority made its formal announcement of the appointment, with the

approval of the Governor, of Gordon MacInnes as the new Executive Director of NJPTV.

(See Attachments 2 and 3)

(1) Divided into capital plans and operational plans, these formal statements signed by the Chairman and the Executive

Director laid out objectives, backed by a description of how New Jersey citizens would benefit from the proposed

action.

(2) The new show received mixed reviews at best, especially

from the audience for the old show. There was an

emphasis on analysis, a number of promotional spots, no weather, and a diminished coverage of sports. On the other

hand the talent was excellent, the research and writing more professional, and researc

h component and reporter

quality substantially upgraded. At any rate, Frymire and his staff bore the brunt of the critical comments.

A Change Of Management

Attachment 1

NJPTV - Board of Commissioners

Appointments by Governor Hughes: 1969-70

Dr. Edward J. Meade, Jr.

Program

Officer

Public Education, Ford Foundation

George Connett

Vice President

Personnel-

Administration

Prudential Insurance Company

of America

John McDonald

Special Assistant to the President for

Community Relations

Rutgers University

Carlos Peay Attorney

Maurice Veneri AFL-

CIO President

Industrial Union Council

Mrs. Anne Martindell

Owner

Who’s Who in America

Donald Wilson Vice President

Time- Life

Appointments by Governor William Cahill -

1971-72-73

Henry Becton Owner, Chairman of Board

Becton-

Dickinson Industries

Nathan Friedman Attorney

Robert Crager C

ommercial Broadcaster

William Hatchett

Manager

, Special Employment

Programs

RCA

Calvin Louderback Vice President, New Jersey

Manufacturers Association

A Change Of Management

Attachment 1

NJPTV - Board of

Commissioners (cont.)

Mrs. Rosemary Fruehling

Assistant Professor

Secretarial Science County College of

Morris

Richard Schoch Senior Vice President,

Creative Director

Compton Advertising

Appointments by Governor Brendan Byrne -

1974-75-76-77-78-79

Stephen Adubato

Director

North Ward Education & Cultural

Center, Newark

Henry Becton Reappointed

Edward Meade

Reappointed

George Connett Reappointed

Robert Crager

Reappointed

Donald Wilson

Reappointed

Edith Luray

Producer, NBC-TV

Campaign Manager, Mrs. English

campaign for State Senator

(English is present special Assistant to the

Governor)

Barbara Broadwater

Administrative Aide

Mayor Errichetti -

Camden State Senator

Errichetti

Robert Comstock

Executive Editor -

The Bergen Record

Former

Press Secretary, Governor Byrne

Charles Nathanson

Private Consultant for City Planning

Personal Associate of Mercer County

and State Democratic Leaders

A Change Of Management

Attachment 1

NJPTV -

Board of Commissioners (cont.)

Susan Thomases

Attorney - Campaign Manager

United States Senator Bradley

Thomas Erhardt

Businessman, Union County National

Democratic Committeeman, Campaign

Manager, various Union County

Democratic politicians

By state statute, the following Cabinet Officers are members of the Authority, ex-

officio with full

voting rights:

Attorney General

Treasurer

Commissioner of Department of Community Affairs

Chancellor of Higher Education

Commissioner of Education

A Change Of Management

Attachment 2

Trenton Times,

Trenton, N.J.- Thursday, March 15, 1979

MACINNES SLATED

FOR STATE TV JOB

By Jim Goodman

Staff Writer

Former state legislator Gordon A.

MacInnes Jr. is expected to be the next executive

director of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting

Authority.

MacInnes, 37, a former Democratic

assemblyman from Morris County, has

been

recommended by the authority’s screening

committee. The authority board will vote on the

recommendation on Tuesday.

Gov. Brendan T. Byrne met with

MacInnes recently and told him he had no

objections to the appointment.

MacInnes was a member of the State

Assembly in 1974 and 1978, and he was

previously a special assistant to Gov. Richard J.

Hughes. Before that he was an official in United

Progress, Inc., Trenton’s anti-

poverty agency.

For the last eight years, MacInnes has

directed the Fund for New Jersey, a private

foundation.

The Foundation's principal client was the

Center for Analysis of Public Issues in Princeton.

MacInnes said today that the foundation gave

the center an average of $75,000 a year during his

tenure.

MacInnes has no direct expe

rience in

television, but has served as a consultant for

WNET-TV

(Channel 13) in New York and was a

director of the Fair Broadcasting Coalition in New

Jersey.

Sources said that the main reason for

MacInnes selection was that the committee felt

he would be able to

raise private money for the

television authority which operates a network of

four stations within the state. The station now

operates almost entirely on public funds and has

had little success in getting donations from its

viewers.

MacInnes was one of

three finalists

interviewed more than a week ago by the

screening committee. Sources said the other two

finalists were from out of state.

A former Byrne aide who had sought the

job, Herbert Wolfe, was not among the finalists.

Wolfe is a former

editor of the Trenton Times and

was Byrne’s first information director.

Edward Meade, Authority chairman,

refused to confirm that MacInnes has been

recommended by the screening committee. He

said he has not seen the committee's final report

and pointed out

that the committee is made up of

a minority of the authority.

Other sources said, however, that there

was very little chance of the authority overruling

the screening committee.

MacInnes was elected to the Assembly in

the 1973 Democratic landslide led

by Byrne. The

Morris County Democrat was identified as part of

the Byrne team early in his tenure in the

Assembly, but split with the governor several

times and was not considered a "team player" by

administration officials.

MacInnes sought reelection in 19

75 but

was defeated in his heavily republican district.

Administration sources have insisted that

the governor would not attempt to influence the

selection of the new director, but Byrne did retain

his right to veto any appointment. The governor

reportedly told MacInnes last week that he would

not object to his nomination.

The new director will replace Lawrence

Frymire, the first director of the authority.

Frymire was forced to resign in December after a

management study report charged that the

Authority lacked strong leadership and had not

attracted many viewers. Frymire’s resignation is

effective April 30.

A Change Of Management

Attachment 3

The Star Ledger

, Thursday, March 15, 1979

JERSEY TV MAY PICK EX-

LEGISLATOR AS CHIEF

by Dan Weissman

Former Assemblyman, Gordon A.

MacInnes, Jr. will be the next director of

the state's Public Broadcasting Authority, a

job that pays in the

mid-$40,000 range,

sources said yesterday.

According to the sources, MacInnes, who

was among the strongest supporters of Gov.

Brendan Byrne’s income tax while he was in

the Legislature, will get the appointment

confirmed Tuesday when the authority

meets. One source said “that information is

impeccable.”

The sources said MacInnes was supposed to

be named to the job last Tuesday. But the

action was delayed because “three members

of the authority wanted to talk to him first.”

MacInnes would say only: "All I know is I

was asked to be one of three finalists to be

interviewed last Saturday.” The commission

is meeting next Tuesday, when it hopes to

reach a decision.

MacInnes said he had no knowledge of who

would get the job, which becomes vacant

April 30 when Larry Frymire will leave.

MacInnes served one term in the Assembly,

winning election in a predominately

republican Morris County district in the

Byrne 1974 landslide.

MacInnes quickly became one of Byrne’s

staunchest legislative allies.

Prior to his election victory, the 38-year old

MacInnes was a special assistant to former

Gov. Richard J. Hughes.

A graduate of the Woodrow Wil

son School

of Princeton University, MacInnes was

considered one of the so-

called "Woody

Wilson gang” when he worked for Hughes,

now Chief Justice of the State Supreme

Court. Also counted in the association were

Byrne’s former treasurer, Richard C. Leone

and Treasurer Clifford Goldman.

“The Governor's office has nothing to do

with it. The authority had a search

committee, and it put ads in the papers,” said

one source, who added:

"But I'm not going to say MacInnes didn't

see the Governor."