Letter to Norman Shapiro, President of Weigel Broadcasting LLC - Pascrell, Menendez, Booker Urge New Owners of New Jersey TV Outlet and FCC to Continue Local Coverage

Letter

Dear Mr. Shapiro,

As the new owner of a public broadcasting station in New Jersey, we welcome you to the Garden State. We write on behalf of New Jersey's 9.2 million residents to request WJLP continues to provide a reliable source of robust local news and public affairs programming.

A broadcast license is valuable public property. A station that possesses one holds a public trust. In return, the station must provide a public service in the form of news and public affairs programming to the communities within its coverage area. At time when the residents of New Jersey are starved for local news, and as more and more newspapers and other media outlets downsize or shutter outright, it is imperative that stations like WJLP continue to provide local coverage of the issues that matter to the Garden State.

Perhaps no other state's residents suffer from a lack of local news coverage more than New Jerseyans. Sandwiched between the New York and Philadelphia media market, New Jersey lacks its own designated market area. As a result, we often find coverage of our state affairs dominated by events occurring in our mega-metropolis neighbors. New Jersey's designated local news station WWOR-TV continues to shirk its statutory obligation, leaving our constituents with few options. We hope WJLP will not follow in WWOR-TV's footsteps, but rather seek to produce programming that can inform New Jerseyans of important issues to our state. Additionally, we ask you to keep WJLP's operations in New Jersey.

Ensuring a well-informed citizenry is a prerequisite for any healthy democracy. There is little doubt that our inability to obtain incisive journalism about our own communities is a driving cause of our growing national divisions. A healthy democracy rests on the bedrock foundation of a vibrant, independent press and we hope that you and your new station can continue to deliver for the Garden State.

Sincerely,

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