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The Future of Local News in New Jersey? It’s Adapting.

One of the biggest unresolved issues in New Jersey is where governments will publish legal notices now that newspapers are ending their print editions. For over a century, state and local governments have been required to publish public notices – such as hearings, zoning changes and budget reports – in print newspapers to ensure transparency and provide a verifiable public record. But this system is breaking down.

Lawyers Take Home Over $3 Million from School Buildings Fight

Marc Pfeiffer, the associate director of the Bloustein School at Rutgers, put it this way in a new report about the future of journalism in New Jersey: “Despite some contemporary criticisms of (editorial opinion),” he wrote, “it has, over many decades, helped generate public discourse and solve complex and controversial issues facing our society.”

Lights out: A final word from N.J.’s only editorial board

Marc Pfeiffer, the associate director of the Bloustein School at Rutgers, put it this way in a new report about the future of journalism in New Jersey: “Despite some contemporary criticisms of (editorial opinion),” he wrote, “it has, over many decades, helped generate public discourse and solve complex and controversial issues facing our society.”

Public Policy and Surveillance Tech

Municipalities should have a sense of the technology’s costs (financial, societal, and reputational) versus its benefits. Financial costs include staff management time and storage fees; they will rise with the volume of data stored. Societal and reputational costs may come into play when deciding what physical locations warrant surveillance and if the technology is obvious or invisible to those affected by it.

Op-Ed: The future of New Jersey news is digital — and that’s OK

Earlier this month, I completed a report titled “The Future of New Jersey Journalism: Evolution, Not Extinction,” and it was recently released by the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers’ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. In it, I discussed the current environment facing New Jersey journalism, and recommendations on how it can thrive. I also analyzed the current debate about advertising legal notices in newspapers.

The Future of NJ Journalism: Evolution, Not Extinction

A new two-part study written by Marc H. Pfeiffer examines the evolving landscape of state and local journalism in New Jersey during a critical transition from print to digital news delivery and challenges those changes mean for the publication of “official notices.”

NJ watchdog chief owns house in Maryland, teaches in D.C., votes in Tinton Falls

By declaring the Maryland home as her primary residence, Williams Brewer might be in violation of the New Jersey First Act, Pfeiffer said. The law, enacted in 2011, requires public employees, including those at authorities, boards, bodies and commissions, to establish residency in New Jersey within one year of their hire date.

Data shows reduced public participation under virtual-only Lakewood Township meetings

“In person meetings have a value, they provide upfront interaction with the people they represent. It allows more direct participation and provides nuance that can’t be seen or observed or happen when you are on a webinar,” said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at the Bloustein Local Government Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University. “In person requires a little more formality. It requires a better sense of decorum, which is representative of the official nature of what is going on.”

Montclair Holiday Party to Honor Town Manager Raises Eyebrows

“On this surface, this appears to strike a balance. It’s something they’ve done before,” Pfeiffer said. The employees likely have been buffeted by management changes with the governing body changes over the last year. You always have some people who may not like the idea. But here, the phrase ‘don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good applies.”

Why are more and more local governments communicating through public relations firms?

“It has become more difficult for responsible and caring elected officials to have trustworthy relationships with the press,” Pfeiffer said. “The degradation of that relationship has contributed to the decisions made by some government agencies to have third-party representatives or communications professionals to face the press.”

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