Andrew George Analyzes Governor Christie's Governorship

Statehouse Correspondent for NJBIZ, Andrew George, sits down with Steve Adubato to discuss the Chris Christie administration over the years, the challenges New Jersey’s next governor will face and the impact of the diminishing amount of local news coverage.

5/25/17#2040

Excerpt:

"We are pleased to be joined by Andrew George, Statehouse Correspondent, NJBIZ. One of the finest publications around. Particularly if you want to know what's happening in the business world. But you write a little bit about politics, do you not? That's right. That's right. Based in the State House. Right. So let me ask you this. Statehouse, right? It used to be Statehouse Row? Right. If you will. What does the Row look like these days? It's dwindling. [laughter] It's dwindling. It's dwindling? Describe that for us. The media landscape in the State House, how it's changed? A, and B, loaded question, I know Andrew. Yeah. How it's changed the coverage of what goes on in the State House? Well, in the... let's see. I've been there a little under four years, and just in that small sample size, you know, you've seen some bureaus get smaller. Desks go away. Just the overall... there's more seats at a Governor Christie press conference these days. That's not a good thing. Why not? Because if we're the ones that are supposed to, you know, hold our officials to the fire, and hold them accountable, where are we? And so you look at some of our publications, and across the state, and where they're putting their resources into. And particularly coming off of a really hectic national election cycle, you know, we have a lot of resources being diverted elsewhere, rather than here in the state. And even taking a step outside of Trenton for, you know... I started as a municipal reporter, and that's where... that's where there's a lot of news to be had, right? Municipal boards. On a local level? School boards, town hall meetings, things like that. Where, you know... And even at the state level, financial boards and different government regulatory bodies, and we're not, you know, sometimes there's one or two or not even any folks in the room. And that's where... that's where I'm most worried about our resources. Andrew, let me ask you this. What...? Devil's Advocate. Yeah. What would you say if I said "You know, most people decide what they want to check out in terms of media sources." So they go to media organizations, and media platforms, that often reinforce what they believe. Alright? So they go... if they're conservative leaning, they'll go to Fox. If they're more progressive, liberal, it's... whether it's CNN or MSNBC on the TV side, they'll go to websites, Breitbart on one side, and God knows wherever on the... you know. I don't even know what would be... Help me on this team. Whether it's political or wherever else. Sure. I don't want to s... political..."