How much of a responsibility do television stations have to cover the community in which they are based ? According to the group Voice for New Jersey, a lot.

Last week, the organization filed a petition with the FCC against the renewal of the broadcast license for Secaucus-based WWOR-TV (also known as "My9NY"), alleging that the only major non-cable station based in the Garden State does not provide adequate coverage of New Jersey.

But group spokesperson and New Jersey resident Donna Sandorse said that the concern goes well beyond WWOR.

"It's not just about WWOR," she said. "It's about broadcast media coverage in New Jersey overall." Voice for New Jersey member Nina Stack said that the group decided to file the petition as a way to bring attention to the issue.

"What we're focused on is the broader issue - for better, more comprehensive coverage, and more options for New Jersey coverage."

Keeping it local

Voice for New Jersey is a broad coalition is made up of over 40 individuals and groups from different fields. They are united, members say, in their desire to improve the quality of broadcast coverage in New Jersey.

"We filed [the petition] primarily as concerned citizens," said Sandorse, who lives in Union County.

The petition cites a 2005 study organized by Rutgers' Eagleton Institute of Politics.

Among other things, the study showed that WWOR ran only 13 New Jersey election stories in the 30 days prior to the New Jersey gubernatorial election, according to the group.

In its own analysis, which is also included in the petition, the group found that WWOR reported less than 10 hours of total news coverage on New Jersey in its issues and programming reports from the first three quarters of 2006.

WWOR's Response

Although WWOR-TV is licensed in Secaucus, it is considered part of the New York media market and identifies itself as a New York station (Its official name is now My9NY).

Nonetheless, station representatives defended their coverage of New Jersey.

"We have received a petition and are reviewing it," Fox spokesperson Audrey Pass said in an official statement. "We stand by our extensive local coverage and our strong commitment to New Jersey."

She would not answer any other questions about the matter.

A reluctant resident?

According to Time magazine, WOR, which was originally a New York-based station, had its broadcast license revoked by the FCC in 1980 when the station's parent company was charged with forcing buyers of its other products to advertise on its stations.

The FCC later re-issued WOR a license, but with the stipulation that it move to New Jersey and cover local state issues.

One could argue that in its two decades in New Jersey, WWOR has captured more attention with its brazen talk show hosts than with breaking news. Morton Downey Jr., Richard Bey, and Howard Stern all had shows on the channel in the 1980s and 1990s.

The station used to have a Trenton bureau that covered the State House, but it has since been closed.

In 2004, Fox, the station's owner since 2001, announced plans to close the Secaucus studios and move operations back to New York. Pressure from New Jersey members of Congress and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who reminded Fox that the station's license agreement is contingent on the fact that it resides in New Jersey, persuaded Fox to drop the planned move.

No law saying they have to

New Jersey is situated between the two major media markets of Philadelphia and New York, often relegating garden state news to the bottom of the broadcast, if it is covered at all.

Sandorse said that one of her group's goals is for the FCC to hold a hearing in New Jersey on the issue of what the FCC calls "localism."

The FCC actually does not have any guidelines or regulations on the amount of local coverage stations must have. However, it encourages network affiliates to take an active role in covering local politics and events.

In 2003, the FCC established a Localism Task Force to advise the FCC on steps it can take and legislative recommendations it could make to Congress that would strengthen "localism" in broadcasting.

But the Task Force has never released any sort of legislation or rules or regulations based on its findings.

FCC spokesperson Mary Diamond said that while there is no set number of hours that stations must dedicate to local programming, they must keep a log of the amount of hours dedicating to the different types of programming, and make that information publicly available.

News 12 New Jersey is one station in the local market that covers New Jersey issues, but it is only available on cable.

"News 12 does a fabulous job for the people who get it, but it's only one station," said Stack, who lives in Lambertville and said she cannot get News 12 in her town.

She said that market reconfiguration might be one way for the state's close to nine million residents to receive news they can use.

"What we'd like to see is New Jersey designated as its own media market," she said.

But she admitted it is a lofty aspiration, and that she was not sure what that would take.

"We just want to be able to get news about our state from a variety of sources," she said.