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C a s e T e a c h i n g R e s o u r c e s F R O M T H E E V A N S S C H O O L O F P U B L I C A F F A I R S

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Ha llw a y ®

Box 353060 · U n i v e r s i t y o f W a s h i n g t o n · S e a t t l e 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
hallhelp@u.washington.edu, or phone (206) 616-8777. Electronic Hallway members are granted copy permission for
educational purposes per Member’s Agreement (www.hallway.org).

Copyright 1996 The Electronic Hallway

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 months 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 for 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 papers 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 necessary 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

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2

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 Insurance 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

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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 start 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 political 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 appointed 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 500,000

A Change Of Management

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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 systems 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 Authority. 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 everything 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 personnel.”

• 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 staff to keep a
respectable operation going, Meade was not especially receptive to their
complaints.

A Change Of Management

5

• 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 I
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 anything 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 relief 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 program.

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 providing services to the people of the
state.

A Change Of Management

6

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. NJPTV 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 after 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

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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 Authority 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

8

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
register by mail for the upcoming election, but was turned down by Douglas Leonard, Program
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, long-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

9

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, bright, 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.
Consequently, 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, attending 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 George 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.

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“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-Range 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 friend 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:

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

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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 Commercial Broadcaster

William Hatchett Manager, Special Employment
Programs RCA

Calvin Louderback Vice President, New Jersey
Manufacturers Association

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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

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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

15

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, h as 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 experience 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 1975 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

16

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 Wilson 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.”

The Management of Human Resources 
Using the Case Study: A Change of Management (PDF), prepare a PowerPoint Presentation of 6 to 8 slides addressing the following:

1. Identify and explain four (4) key attributes of Larry Frymire’s leadership style.

2. Identify and explain four (4) major influences from the tug of war between Frymire’s role as leader and the newly elected governor.

3. Select and assess four (4) of Frymire’s responses to the budget issues in the changing political environment.

4. Research and cite at least four (4) peer-reviewed academic sources.

The format of the assignment is to be as follows:

· Six to eight (6-8) PowerPoint slides, with one or two devoted to each of the topics in items 2–4 above. Slides should abbreviate the information in no more than five or six (5 or 6) bullet points each.

· In the Notes View of each PowerPoint slide, incorporate the notes you would use when presenting the slides to an audience.

· Slide titles should be based on the criteria described above (e.g., “Four Key Attributes,” “Responses to Budget Issues,” etc.)

· In addition to the content slides required, a title slide and a reference slide are to be included. The title slide is to contain the title of the assignment, your name, the instructor’s name, the course title, and the date. The reference slide should list, in APA format, the sources you consulted in writing the paper