- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

Valley Bank.

NJM Insurance Group.

Serving New Jersey’s drivers, homeowners and business owners for more than 100 years.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

PSE&G.

Powering progress.

The North Ward Center.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

And by Johnson & Johnson.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

Keeping communities informed and connected.

And by Meadowlands Media.

A print and digital business news network.

[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program continuing our very important series of conversations around media leadership with a leader in the media, Stefanie Murray, Director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University's College of Communication and Media.

Stefanie, good to have you with us.

- Thanks Steve, I'm really glad to be here.

- And the college is significant, we're taping this in the summer of 2025.

Talk to folks about what it means to be a college of media and communication.

- Yeah, so as of July 1st we're the College of Media and Communication here at Montclair State.

Yes, thank you, and we're really excited about that.

In academic terms, it's a big deal because it gives a little bit more independence to what we do here.

It elevates some of our administrators and gives us access to different things within the university.

But what it really means is that enrollment is growing, our programs are growing.

We've added programs in animation.

Our sports communications program is growing quite a lot.

Our film and television program continues to grow and our journalism program.

So that's really the bottom line is that we are continuing to attract students who are interested in different careers in media.

And as that growth, you know, comes we need access to more resources, and so it just made a lot of sense to become a college.

- It's interesting, you talk about the growth at the university, my alma mater, - Yes.

- And you know better than most that in media, not a lot of growth, in fact, going the other way.

You've talked extensively and you're an expert on disappearing local news in the State of New Jersey and the nation.

How bad is it and why is it so important to our representative democracy, please?

- So there's a difference between media and news.

So a lot of the growth that we see that I just talked about is in media, which is exploding and continues to explode.

But what I work a lot in, as you talked about, is local news.

So we support local journalism and local news specifically around the State of New Jersey.

And over the last 10 to 15 years, we've seen a massive contraction in the number of journalists covering communities in our state.

And that's really due to a market failure.

There's been a market failure for local news and the business model underpinning news and information, specifically journalism, has collapsed across the United States, and it's been no different here in New Jersey.

And so we've seen a lot of contraction, a lot of layoffs, a lot of closures of newspapers specifically in our state.

And so that's created news deserts across communities in New Jersey.

There are hundreds of millions of dollars that are spent every day in our state and no one's watching, because there's no independent watchdogs in so many communities in New Jersey.

And that's the problem that we are trying to solve through our work at the center.

And that's really why it's so important is, you know, if you don't have independent media watching what politicians are doing, bringing you great stories of resilience and what's happening in your town to provide that, you know, that social fabric, that community fabric, there are many things that you lose.

- Stefanie, the economic model of ad-based, now we're an independent media organization... We work very closely with our colleagues in public broadcasting, but we're a 501C3, we work... Well more than half of my time is spent raising money.

And you've argued that the ad... the sponsorship ad model doesn't work.

What model, from an economic point of view does work?

Meaning who the heck is willing to invest and care enough about quality journalism, news and media and information that people need as opposed to just going on social media with an algorithm that tells them they're right because somebody in the algorithm world knows how to tell you what you need to hear, no, want to hear.

I'm sorry, that's not even a question, Stefanie.

It's just what's been going on in my head, - I get you, yeah.

So the advertising model, actually, that's not something I argue has failed.

That actually is still strong.

So advertising does underpin a vast majority still of local news, especially in the State of New Jersey.

What I argue is that the future is a revenue mix, is a different kind of revenue mix that doesn't only- - Talk about that.

- Yeah, so that's not only ads.

So traditionally news and information in our state and in states across the United States, every state, was very ad-based.

We sold classified ads, we sold ads on broadcasts, we sold ads in newspapers.

Advertising was the way we brought in money, a little bit of money from subscriptions, but mostly it was advertising and sponsorship.

That has changed as the market has collapsed, and you can put ads anywhere.

You know, I talked about media is exploding.

We have students who go into all kinds of different media, and there are ads everywhere.

You can find ads, you know, when you're listening to Spotify, when you're streaming something on TV, ads are all over the place now.

And so they're not only in news and information and that's the market failure, is that the money went elsewhere in terms of advertising.

It doesn't mean all the money went elsewhere, though, there's still money to be had, and there's millions of dollars made by local journalism organizations in advertising specifically.

But what we need today is more than that.

So we see news organizations that take in a lot more money for membership instead of just subscription, become a member of a news organization, philanthropy, which you know, you're running a 5013C3.

Yeah, looking at foundations and private philanthropy, I believe- - That's right.

- News and information is a public good and should be funded like a public good.

So also public policy I think plays a role.

Philanthropy needs to step up and I think will continue to step up.

Just like the arts are supported, that's how news and information needs to be supported.

So it's a revenue mix that I think we need to see today.

- Stefanie, lemme follow up on this economic mix, the role of government.

There's something called the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, a not-for-profit driving, innovative media projects, community-driven local media.

You're a senior advisor to this consortium.

Montclair State is the host of it, but there are other universities.

NJIT, Rowan, College of New Jersey, Kean, Rutgers.

- That's right.

- Funded by whom?

Isn't that the government?

- Partly, yes.

So the Civic Information Consortium is the only organization in the country that was established as its own independent 501C3 to take in government and private funding and then redistribute it to support media and information.

So it functions somewhat similar to the Corporation for Republic Broadcasting in a different sense, in a smaller sense.

So if people are familiar to CPB, which funds PBS and NPR across the United States- - As we speak right now, and we're hoping and praying it stays that way, but go ahead.

- Right, exactly, yes.

But it's somewhat of a similar setup in that CPB is an independent organization, so the consurtium is independent, but it currently does take in a grant from the state annually along with private funding.

So foundations including Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the (indistinct) Fund give money to the consortium, and the consortium's long-term plan is to establish an endowment so that it doesn't have to depend on government money.

- Yeah, let's talk about the depending among government money, our production operation does not receive a line item in the budget, but our partners in public broadcasting are part of that.

And by the way, the vast majority of public broadcasting money is private money.

That being said, what happens when politicians, people in elective office, either in Washington or in Trenton decide, "We don't like you, we don't like your news coverage, we don't like the interview that you did with so-and-so."

The governor's peeved, or the president's peeved, or whatever, Senator so-and-so's peeved, and all of a sudden the funding is at risk.

- Yes, yes.

- Talk about that.

How the heck do we maintain our independence?

- Yeah, I mean and that's what we're seeing on a federal level, right, right now with the claw back of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, that is being done under the auspices of that the organizations are producing content that the current administration doesn't agree with.

And we can, you know, talk about that endlessly all day, but that's the reasoning really, is that they think- - But is it that they're right if it's a private entity funded by the people of this country?

- Yes.

I mean... - Well, my own... - So when you have politi... that is absolutely an excellent point.

When you have politicians who get involved in funding local news, funding the watchdogs, it is absolutely going to be, you know, a potential nightmare if it's not done properly.

And you always run the risk of a politician or a political interest lobbying to get something stopped.

And so there are guardrails that you can put in place.

There's independence, things that you can set up at the outset to try to prevent that.

But the bottom line is that it's absolutely possible and we have to be as transparent as possible.

There are lot of policy efforts across United States now to try to get various forms of public funding into the hands of media to support media as a public good.

Some of it's tax credits, some of it's direct grants, you know, it's all over the place.

And a lot of people don't quite realize too, that legal notices still, that's a form of taxpayer funding, and that still supports the vast majority of newspapers across the United States, including here in New Jersey, although that's on the chopping block now too.

- It sure is.

By the way, one more time.

If we couldn't post production, put up the website for Montclair State.

They have a whole range of productions going on there.

I was on campus recently with your dean, Keith Strudler.

- A lot.

- Important, impactful student-centric, student-run production.

That's an exciting thing when you're those of us in the media who've been at this for a while, and you see students who still want to go into journalism news and media.

To Stefanie Murray, the Director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University's College of Communication Media.

Stefanie, thank you so much.

We'll talk again soon.

- Of course, thanks Steve.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To see more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato programs, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're joined once again by our housing expert, Staci Berger, who's President and CEO of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.

Good to see you, my friend.

- Thanks for having me, Steve.

It's always great to be with you.

- Now, Staci, I love having you too, but I asked you right before we got on, Staci, we've talked about affordable housing in New Jersey for years together.

- We have.

- You're the best.

Are we making any progress?

And if so, prove it.

- Well, we are definitely making progress because we finally have a program that everybody, with the exception of just a handful of towns agrees, is working for the state of New Jersey.

- What is it?

- We have, well, the legislature just adopted last year A4S50 which gives towns the opportunity to evaluate what their affordable housing number is gonna look like and what their obligation is and how they're gonna get there.

And those plans are due at the end of this month, and then it is game on.

We are seeing developments be approved and be built, and we know that we have an enormous need in New Jersey, and we finally have a process by which we are going to meet that need.

I've been in this role for a long time, and I have never been as optimistic as I am right now about the ability of our state and our community and our development partners to meet the needs of New Jersey residents.

It is a, it's going to take a little time, but those units are going to come to the communities that need them most.

- You know, Staci, you told our producers, and you said this publicly that we have enough luxury housing.

- We sure do.

- We don't, But what don't we have enough of?

- We don't have enough starter homes.

We don't have enough family-sized apartments.

We don't have enough places that people can afford without enormous burdens and hoops, bureaucratic hoops of applying over and over and over again, paying the same administrative fee to a landlord, for example, and then not getting an apartment.

So we need a little more regulation and a little more oversight or a lot more oversight on the rental market to make sure that people are not being taken advantage of and that unscrupulous landlords aren't using renters as an ATM.

But we are seeing at least in the development side, the increase in the ability of community developers, municipalities, for-profit folks to get in the game and make those homes happen.

- So, Staci, we're gonna have, I keep saying this so folks, I'm not gonna apologize for reminding you because you got a lot of things on your mind.

But we are gonna have both candidates for governor and in depth policy conversations.

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican, Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat, and housing, affordable housing will be part of it.

And state policy as it relates to, and the governor's role as it relates to housing is critical.

What is the most significant action our new governor, be it Mikie Sherrill, Jack Ciattarelli in January 2026, when that governor takes office, what's the most significant action they need to take as it relates to improving the housing crisis in the state?

- They need to make sure that the programs and policies that are already happening here have sufficient resources.

We have great programs.

They are underfunded and not always protected.

So for example, our top priority in this budget cycle, and we believe going forward is the preservation of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

You and I have talked about that before.

There is a lot of money in it right now.

We need to make sure that that money stays there so that organizations can use it to build the homes that they've committed to building with municipalities.

So Habitat for Humanity, a number of our other members who are partnering with municipalities around the state need to know that those resources are gonna be there tomorrow.

But also six months from now and six years from now.

There are lots of great programs that have come online in the last few years, including a fantastic first generation and first time home ownership down payment program.

But that money should come from not the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

We believe it should come from an increase in the realty transfer fee so that those funds are stable and dependable for developers on the one hand who use that funding from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

But that folks who are trying to buy a home for the first time, whether it's first generation homeowners or first time homeowners, have a dedicated set of resources.

We also need to increase and stabilize rental assistance.

Right now we have many more people who need rental assistance.

- What does that, hold on, rental assistance for whom?

And how much?

- For, it depends on the, it depends on where folks live, the size of their family and what their rent is.

It's a slightly complicated formula, but it usually helps folks keep their housing costs at or below 30% of their income.

And so it would be for lower and moderate income families.

We have a backlog of folks who are waiting to get that assistance.

There's some from the federal government.

It is not enough.

People incorrectly believe that everyone who needs rental assistance gets it, and that is just not true.

And the last program, it's just not, it's not a universal rental assistance program at the federal level or the state level.

And the last program that I would say really needs a commitment from our gubernatorial candidates is the eviction diversion program, which.

- Hold on, slow down, the eviction diversion program.

What the heck is that?

- That keeps people out of eviction court.

It keeps people from being evicted.

Instead of just a landlord filing for eviction and kicking somebody out and creating a whole chain of homelessness issues, which we probably have, we probably don't have time to talk about that today.

- Staci, do we have a homeless, a crisis of those who are homeless?

- Absolutely, we have a homeless crisis, and it's continued to become worse because the Supreme Court allowed communities to make homelessness a crime, which is shameful in 2025 that that is something that anybody would do.

- Yeah, but it’s only a crime if a community establishes that as a crime.

It's not a crime in and of itself because the Supreme Court said that.

- Oh no, and we think that the Supreme Court was wrong and that it's not a crime and that nobody should, nobody is illegal and nobody should be penalized or criminalized for not having a place to live.

But Townsend, New Jersey are looking at ways to do that.

And that is, that is both preventable and incredibly wasteful use of municipal resources.

So keeping people out of homelessness, the easiest way to do that is keep them in the place that they're currently living, and we can do that if we have eviction diversion resources, we have run out right of those resources at this point, and we need to make sure that there are enough for folks who need them.

- Staci, before I let you outta here, the energy prices going up, utility rates, connect that to housing.

Got a minute left.

- Sure, so, you know when people can't afford their utility rates, maybe they, maybe they don't pay their full amount of their rent or maybe they don't take all their medication.

We know that it is incredibly difficult for people who are facing hard choices like that to keep the lights on, keep the heat on.

And in this case, it's gonna be difficult for folks to keep their air conditioning and medical devices happening during the summer when power prices are expected to go up.

We are heartened by Senator Timberlake's recent legislation that she submitted to control power costs, as well as some of the steps that the Murphy administration and the Board of Public Utilities are taking to expand utility assistance through the Universal Service Fund and LIHEAP, which Congress is threatening.

So that's a whole other other show we could do.

- Okay, you make reference to Senator Britnee Timberlake.

- Correct.

- Staci Berger is the President and CEO of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.

Staci, thank you for joining us.

As always, we appreciate it.

- Thank you, Steve.

Great to be here.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To see more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato programs, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're now joined by Dr. Mark Klapholz, who is Chair of the Department of Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and the Chief of Medical Service at University Hospital.

Doctor, great to have you with us.

Thank you.

- Thank you so much.

Great to be here.

- You got it.

This is part of our "Tomorrow's Physicians" initiative and I wanna also make it clear that recently I hosted, co-hosted the EJI Excellence in Medicine Awards, and you were in fact the winner of the Physician Award.

What'd that mean to you?

- It meant a lot.

You know, the EJI Foundation's done so much for healthcare in New Jersey by supporting the training and education of the next generation of physicians, by supporting people who have really done a lot for health in New Jersey and community service for the various communities and populations of our state.

- Along those lines, doctor, talk about your work in supporting and helping medical students be prepared for the challenges of medicine in 2025 and beyond.

- Well, we have a really robust curriculum here at New Jersey Medical School, recognizing the great advances in technology and great advances in healthcare.

And we incorporate that into their training every day by teaching them and training them the new procedures, new knowledge in healthcare.

Being very mindful in the current era, for example, of AI that is having a big impact.

- You're a cardiology researcher for over 20 years.

You've made a huge difference in your area of expertise with the patients you serve.

Who or what motivated you to become a physician?

- Oh gosh, yeah.

My grandfather was my inspiration to become a physician and he was always my north star.

He was a refugee actually in this country.

- From Czechoslovakia?

- That is correct.

He came here in the late 1940s after World War II.

He spent, unfortunately, years in one of the more notorious Nazi concentration camps, but he was a human being who cherished and respected all people.

He really always looked for that common humanity that exists among all of us.

And in medicine, he really saw the opportunity to deliver on our common humanity by you know, healing the sick.

It doesn't matter, your race, religion, color, creed, and I think that was just a great inspiration for me.

And then, you know, I'm eternally grateful to him for that.

- Along those lines... Post-COVID five plus years after, what does it take?

And I think everyone's story is different.

Everyone's experience is different, doctor, but I've got to imagine that seeing what people saw, young people saw, who make the decision to go into medicine.

I mean, it's an extraordinary commitment.

What kinds of things do you see and experience driving medical students today?

- Well, I think, you know, that bringing in COVID around this, I think is at a very important point.

COVID showed us, you know, unfortunately in many cases how vulnerable we are to things that are out of our control.

But also, it really highlighted what we can do when we stand together and the advances that were brought to the table in incredibly fast speed.

And then, the impact that you can have on really helping people, preventing death, improving long-term outcomes.

I think really it was a very double-edged kind of, you know, so to speak, as they say.

But creates a great inspiration for what you can do to help other people.

- Talk about, again, your area of research is so interesting.

You've done work in the area of nephrology?

- Well, the heart failure's cardiology.

- Okay, but connect...

There's some medical jargon that I don't understand.

Tell me, tell us what this is.

The Internal Medicine Nephrology Pathway pilot program.

What the heck is it?

- Oh gosh, yes.

So, thank you for bringing that up.

That's something we're very proud of.

You know, in the whole graduate medical education arena where we train residents and fellows, to train the next generation of doctors, one of the things that we are... One of the pilot programs in the country is something through the national graduate medical education programs called Advances in Innovation in Residency Education, where we are able to bring people on board, trainees, and have them train in general medicine and a specialty in a shorter period of time.

So, folks can come and in four years they can be trained in internal medicine and in nephrology, which is to take care of kidney disease.

And the value-added proposition of that is there is a shortage in this country, for example, of nephrologists, of kidney doctors.

There's a shortage of infectious disease doctors.

And so, through partnerships with the, what's called the ACGME, which is a national organization, we are able to combine programs and train people more efficiently and effectively.

And we're very excited.

And again, one of the pilot programs in the country.

- Please go on our website, steveadubato.org.

It's up right now.

Look at past episodes we've done connected to this initiative, "Tomorrow's Physicians."

Real quick before I let you go, doctor.

The economics of medical school.

Incredibly challenging, which is challenging, which is why the EJI Excellence in Medicine Awards, the fact that those scholarships are given out every year to some of the best medical students in the state, that matters, doesn't it?

- Enormously, enormously.

It remains a huge challenge.

Medical education is extremely expensive.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars during the course of the four years.

Every little bit helps.

These scholarships are enormously important to enable the most promising to be able to achieve a medical education.

I can't thank enough or recognize enough the EJI Foundation, what they have done.

- Yeah, and people think, well, that's just about those going into medicine.

No, it's for all of us.

(laughs) It's for all of us.

Dr. Mark Klapholz, who is not only a clinician position, but also an MBA.

In his spare time, he got a Master's in Business Administration.

Chair of the Department of Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and the Chief of Medical Service at University Hospital.

Doctor, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you very, very much.

Appreciate it.

- I'm Steve Adubato, the doctor is in the house.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

Valley Bank.

NJM Insurance Group.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

PSE&G.

The North Ward Center.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

And by Johnson & Johnson.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by Meadowlands Media.

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