McGlynn v. New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority
Opinions
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
PASHMAN, J.
This is a case of major importance. It transcends the claims of the individual litigants who were political candidates in the recently concluded gubernatorial primary election. The overriding issue concerns the relationship between the journalistic freedom which has been granted the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority and its duty of fairness in the coverage of gubernatorial campaigns.
We now hold that the Authority has been given a wide range of journalistic freedom under Federal and State law in determining the content and scope of television broadcast coverage of gubernatorial election campaigns. This freedom has been given by the Legislature to the Authority to effectuate the significant public policy goal of providing the people of New Jersey with needed coverage of the subjects and events which most directly affect them. The Authority, though a governmental instrumentality, is intended by the Legislature to exercise its discretion with the independence and freedom that characterize a free and vibrant press. At the same time, its important responsibilities [117]*117are to be discharged within a framework of fairness and impartiality comporting generally with prevailing federal regulatory philosophy.
In so holding, we strongly endorse the fundamental commitment which the Legislature has made for the people of this State in creating a public broadcasting station to carry out these important goals. We fully anticipate that the judiciary will have no direct or active role in this arena. This is as it should be. However, if any controversy should come before the courts, the Judiciary will unhesitatingly honor the commitment of the Legislature to a free and fair public broadcasting authority.
The determination which we reach today results from the reargument of this appeal. We have had the opportunity to consider the implications of the case in greater depth than was possible when it first reached us on an emergent basis. This reconsideration has brought the entire court to a different conclusion than was earlier held. Accordingly, we reverse our prior order.
We need to briefly reiterate the course which this appeal has taken. Richard McGlynn, later joined by Jack Rafferty, candidates for the Republican nomination for governor, challenged the refusal of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority to include them in a forum on five important issues (Forum) to be telecast by the Authority on its “A Closer Look” program during the final week of the 1981 primary campaign. When the case reached the Appellate Division, two of the five scheduled segments had already been broadcast. All the segments included statements on the issues by four of the eight Republican candidates. McGlynn alleged that his exclusion from the program violated N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 (Section 14 of the 1974 “Act to amend and supplement ‘The New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act’ ”), N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) (Section 7 of the “New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority Act”), 47 U.S.C. § 315 and the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
[118]*118Upon plaintiffs’ emergent application, the Appellate Division ordered that all excluded candidates be included in any further showings of the Forum. The court further directed that statements by the excluded candidates on the issues already discussed be broadcast at approximately the same hour that the originals were shown. We heard the Authority’s appeal on an emergency basis and affirmed the Appellate Division’s order.1 On appeal, the Honorable William J. Brennan, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, refused to issue a stay.
After the primary election, we granted the Authority’s petition for rehearing because the public interest would be served by a clarification of our earlier summary ruling.
I
The New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority (Authority), an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, was established in 1968 by the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority Act, N.J.S.A. 48:23-1 et seq. The Authority owns and operates WNJS, WNJM, WNJB and WNJT, four educational television stations which constitute the New Jersey public television network. All four stations are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Plaintiffs Richard MeGlynn and Jack Rafferty were among the eight candidates for the Republican nomination for governor of New Jersey. Ann Klein 2 was one of thirteen candidates for the Democratic nomination. The primary election was held on [119]*119June 2, 1981.3 During the primary campaign, the Authority provided extensive television coverage as required by the New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditure Reporting Act, N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39.
As a result of the inadequacy of television coverage of New Jersey gubernatorial races by the private New York and Philadelphia stations, see infra at 122-23, significant responsibility for keeping the New Jersey viewing public informed about the candidates and issues falls upon New Jersey public television. The problems of election coverage by the New York and Philadelphia stations were exacerbated in this case by the presence of 21 candidates in the race. The Authority fulfilled its responsibility in several ways. First, it aired a series of ten-minute profiles in which each candidate received the opportunity to discuss the issues. Each profile was shown twice during May. Second, “McLaughlin’s Beat,” a regularly scheduled weekly interview program, broadcast interviews with the candidates in groups of two or three from March 5 through May 21. Third, the Authority covered two League of Women Voters forums, one for each party, to which all candidates were invited. Finally, the various candidates appeared on “New Jersey Nightly News” (Nightly News). There is no evidence of how often each candidate appeared on the evening news. However, “A Closer Look,” a ten-minute segment of the Nightly News which generally provides in-depth analysis of a single issue or event, broadcast profiles of each candidate in mid-April.
As the campaign neared its conclusion, Herbert Bloom, Executive Producer of Nightly News, decided to devote “A Closer Look” to what he described in an affidavit to be “five very significant issues in the campaign.” All 21 candidates had been asked to comment on these issues, and their responses were taped approximately four weeks before they were to be shown. [120]*120Bloom explained that “there was not sufficient time remaining before the primary election * * * to cover all 21 candidates.” He therefore used his “professional news judgment ... .in consultation with [his] senior staff,” to select a group of leading candidates whose views would be broadcast. Ten of the 21 candidates were chosen for this final series of programs.
Among the candidates excluded from this forum were McGlynn and Rafferty. On May 25, 1981, the four New Jersey public television stations and WNET/Thirteen announced their intention to air the series of discussions on “A Closer Look.” The following day, McGlynn and the Committee to Elect Richard McGlynn Governor filed a complaint in the Superior Court, Chancery Division. The complaint alleged that the Authority had refused McGlynn’s request to be included.
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The opinion of the Court was delivered by
PASHMAN, J.
This is a case of major importance. It transcends the claims of the individual litigants who were political candidates in the recently concluded gubernatorial primary election. The overriding issue concerns the relationship between the journalistic freedom which has been granted the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority and its duty of fairness in the coverage of gubernatorial campaigns.
We now hold that the Authority has been given a wide range of journalistic freedom under Federal and State law in determining the content and scope of television broadcast coverage of gubernatorial election campaigns. This freedom has been given by the Legislature to the Authority to effectuate the significant public policy goal of providing the people of New Jersey with needed coverage of the subjects and events which most directly affect them. The Authority, though a governmental instrumentality, is intended by the Legislature to exercise its discretion with the independence and freedom that characterize a free and vibrant press. At the same time, its important responsibilities [117]*117are to be discharged within a framework of fairness and impartiality comporting generally with prevailing federal regulatory philosophy.
In so holding, we strongly endorse the fundamental commitment which the Legislature has made for the people of this State in creating a public broadcasting station to carry out these important goals. We fully anticipate that the judiciary will have no direct or active role in this arena. This is as it should be. However, if any controversy should come before the courts, the Judiciary will unhesitatingly honor the commitment of the Legislature to a free and fair public broadcasting authority.
The determination which we reach today results from the reargument of this appeal. We have had the opportunity to consider the implications of the case in greater depth than was possible when it first reached us on an emergent basis. This reconsideration has brought the entire court to a different conclusion than was earlier held. Accordingly, we reverse our prior order.
We need to briefly reiterate the course which this appeal has taken. Richard McGlynn, later joined by Jack Rafferty, candidates for the Republican nomination for governor, challenged the refusal of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority to include them in a forum on five important issues (Forum) to be telecast by the Authority on its “A Closer Look” program during the final week of the 1981 primary campaign. When the case reached the Appellate Division, two of the five scheduled segments had already been broadcast. All the segments included statements on the issues by four of the eight Republican candidates. McGlynn alleged that his exclusion from the program violated N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 (Section 14 of the 1974 “Act to amend and supplement ‘The New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act’ ”), N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) (Section 7 of the “New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority Act”), 47 U.S.C. § 315 and the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.
[118]*118Upon plaintiffs’ emergent application, the Appellate Division ordered that all excluded candidates be included in any further showings of the Forum. The court further directed that statements by the excluded candidates on the issues already discussed be broadcast at approximately the same hour that the originals were shown. We heard the Authority’s appeal on an emergency basis and affirmed the Appellate Division’s order.1 On appeal, the Honorable William J. Brennan, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, refused to issue a stay.
After the primary election, we granted the Authority’s petition for rehearing because the public interest would be served by a clarification of our earlier summary ruling.
I
The New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority (Authority), an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, was established in 1968 by the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority Act, N.J.S.A. 48:23-1 et seq. The Authority owns and operates WNJS, WNJM, WNJB and WNJT, four educational television stations which constitute the New Jersey public television network. All four stations are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Plaintiffs Richard MeGlynn and Jack Rafferty were among the eight candidates for the Republican nomination for governor of New Jersey. Ann Klein 2 was one of thirteen candidates for the Democratic nomination. The primary election was held on [119]*119June 2, 1981.3 During the primary campaign, the Authority provided extensive television coverage as required by the New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditure Reporting Act, N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39.
As a result of the inadequacy of television coverage of New Jersey gubernatorial races by the private New York and Philadelphia stations, see infra at 122-23, significant responsibility for keeping the New Jersey viewing public informed about the candidates and issues falls upon New Jersey public television. The problems of election coverage by the New York and Philadelphia stations were exacerbated in this case by the presence of 21 candidates in the race. The Authority fulfilled its responsibility in several ways. First, it aired a series of ten-minute profiles in which each candidate received the opportunity to discuss the issues. Each profile was shown twice during May. Second, “McLaughlin’s Beat,” a regularly scheduled weekly interview program, broadcast interviews with the candidates in groups of two or three from March 5 through May 21. Third, the Authority covered two League of Women Voters forums, one for each party, to which all candidates were invited. Finally, the various candidates appeared on “New Jersey Nightly News” (Nightly News). There is no evidence of how often each candidate appeared on the evening news. However, “A Closer Look,” a ten-minute segment of the Nightly News which generally provides in-depth analysis of a single issue or event, broadcast profiles of each candidate in mid-April.
As the campaign neared its conclusion, Herbert Bloom, Executive Producer of Nightly News, decided to devote “A Closer Look” to what he described in an affidavit to be “five very significant issues in the campaign.” All 21 candidates had been asked to comment on these issues, and their responses were taped approximately four weeks before they were to be shown. [120]*120Bloom explained that “there was not sufficient time remaining before the primary election * * * to cover all 21 candidates.” He therefore used his “professional news judgment ... .in consultation with [his] senior staff,” to select a group of leading candidates whose views would be broadcast. Ten of the 21 candidates were chosen for this final series of programs.
Among the candidates excluded from this forum were McGlynn and Rafferty. On May 25, 1981, the four New Jersey public television stations and WNET/Thirteen announced their intention to air the series of discussions on “A Closer Look.” The following day, McGlynn and the Committee to Elect Richard McGlynn Governor filed a complaint in the Superior Court, Chancery Division. The complaint alleged that the Authority had refused McGlynn’s request to be included. McGlynn alleged that the exclusion violated his rights under the Federal Communications Act, the New Jersey Campaign Expenditures and Reporting Act, the Public Broadcasting Authority Act, and the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United. States Constitution.
The Chancery Division found the complaint to be an appeal from an administrative determination by the Authority and so transferred the case to the Appellate Division on May 26. At this point, Rafferty intervened as a plaintiff. The Appellate Division issued its Order on May 27 directing that the excluded candidates be included in any future forum and that statements by the excluded candidates on the issues discussed in the telecasts already aired be broadcast at approximately the same hour as the original segments were shown. We affirmed the order as - to the Authority on May 27, and the Authority aired the planned “Closer Look” segments with all candidates for governor included.
After the primary election, we granted the Authority’s Petition for Rehearing.
[121]*121II
This ease is technically moot since the primary election has been held and respondents are no longer candidates for governor. However, “we have often recognized that courts may hear and decide cases which are technically moot where issues of great public importance are involved.” In re Geraghty, 68 N.J. 209, 212 (1975). See, Dunellen Bd. of Ed. v. Dunellen Ed. Ass’n, 64 N.J. 17, 22 (1973); John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital v. Heston, 58 N.J. 576, 579 (1971); East Brunswick Tp. Bd. of Ed. v. East Brunswick Tp. Council, 48 N.J. 94, 109 (1966). This case raises important issues concerning the role of New Jersey public television in covering state elections. Failure to elaborate upon our decision of May 27 would inevitably force the courts to face further cases of this nature, possibly on an emergent basis, without any useful precedent construing the New Jersey statutes at issue here. We have therefore decided to resolve the issues presented.
Ill
The starting point for our discussion must be the New Jersey statutory scheme, which is comprised of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority Act, N.J.S.A. 48:23-1 et seq., and Section 14 of the act to amend and supplement the “New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Act,” N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39, as amended in April 1981, L.1981, c. 107. The Authority’s obligations to the people of New Jersey regarding coverage of their gubernatorial election derive from these statutory provisions. Yet there are no- reported cases construing either act.4
[122]*122A. Overview
The Authority was created in 1968 in response to the unique dependence of New Jersey viewers on out-of-state television stations. Although the ninth-largest state in population, New Jersey is one of only two states without at least one licensed VHF television station. New Jersey viewers depend on seven stations from New York City and four from Philadelphia for VHF television coverage. Although several private UHF stations are located in New Jersey, their signals do not have the power to reach the entire state and their viewership is too small to substantially affect New Jersey’s dependence on out-of-state television. The FCC found in 1976 that “there is a need for improved New Jersey television service ... by some or all of those mass-audience stations licensed to either New York City or Philadelphia.” State of New Jersey Television Service, 58 FCC 2d 790, 804 (1976).
This situation may have been the result of federal communications policy. A 1961 FCC primer, issued to New York and Pennsylvania stations detailing the extent of their obligation to cover New Jersey elections, underscores the problem.
[A] New York City broadcaster might broadcast news and public affairs programming concerning major events in outlying cities or areas receiving its signal, but could hardly be expected to give in-depth coverage of local elections from Connecticut or Central New Jersey. A Connecticut or New Jersey station might cover such elections, but we would not fault a New York station that chose, in its discretion, to ignore them. [Quoted in State of New Jersey Television Service, 58 FCC 2d 790, 798 (1976)]
According to the New Jersey Coalition for Fair Broadcasting, which monitored New York and Philadelphia news telecasts in 1973, only 13% of Philadelphia local news broadcasts and 5% of [123]*123New York local news broadcasts concerned New Jersey topics. New Jersey Television Service, supra, at 790.5
It was partly to alleviate this longstanding paucity of television coverage of New Jersey news that New Jersey created the Public Broadcasting Authority.6 The Authority is governed by the Public Broadcasting Commission, which consists of five ex-officio members (the Commissioners of Education and Community Affairs, the Chancellor of Higher Education, the State Treasurer and the Attorney General) and ten other persons appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Commission appoints the Executive Director sub[124]*124ject to the approval of the Governor. The Director serves as the chief executive officer of the Authority. Either the Commission or the Governor may replace him, although in the latter case he is given the right to notice and a hearing before he can be dismissed. N.J.S.A. 48:23 — 4 and -5.
The act creating the Authority contains two relevant provisions concerning the content of its programming. N.J.S.A. 48:23 — 9 prohibits the Authority from “supporting or opposing any political party or candidate for public office.” N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) empowers the Authority to
[ajssume responsibility for the character, diversity, quality, and excellence of programming which is released via its licensed facilities, provided that programs or series of programs of a controversial nature shall be presented with balance, fairness and equity, [emphasis added]
These provisions will be discussed at greater length below, after the remainder of the statutory scheme is set forth. For now it suffices to note that although these provisions vest the Authority with broad discretion in news coverage, they also define the contours for the exercise of this discretion, thus belying any argument that the Legislature intended to free the Authority completely from all statutory direction.
As part of a comprehensive revision of the Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Act, the Legislature in 1974 enacted N.J.S.A. 19:44A — 39, which in turn was amended significantly in 1980 and 1981. The policy underlying the 1974 act was expressed by N.J.S.A. 19:44A-27:
It is hereby declared to be a compelling public interest and to be the policy of this State that general election campaigns for the office of Governor shall be financed with public support pursuant to the provisions of this act. It is the intention of this act that such financing be adequate in amount so that [125]*125candidates for election to the office of Governor may conduct their campaigns free from improper influence and so that persons of limited financial means may seek election to the State’s highest office.
One of the crucial problems facing any candidate, especially one of limited means, is access to television. This is particularly true in New Jersey because the New Jersey viewing market is dominated by out-of-state stations. A candidate wishing to buy air time must pay the high New York or Philadelphia rates, even though he needs to reach only a fraction of the markets served by the stations in those cities. In recognition of this special problem, the Legislature included a provision concerning the Authority in its campaign spending reform statute.
N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 originally concerned only the general election. It directed the Authority to promote full discussions of public issues by the candidates in the general election for governor, and mandated that the Authority set aside a specified amount of time for each candidate on the ballot. It was amended in 1980 as part of the bill extending public financing to the primaries, adding a guarantee of fixed amounts of air time for each primary candidate.8
[126]*126In 1981, however, the Legislature again amended the statute, apparently in response to the unwieldy size of the 1981 primary field. N.J.S.A. 19:44A — 39 now reads as follows:
The New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority established under P.L.1968, c. 405 (C. 48:23-1 et seq.) shall promote full discussions of public issues by the candidates for nomination for election or election to the office of Governor on the ballot in any primary or general election, in accordance with Federal law and free of charge to the candidate. The authority may promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the purpose of this section.
Thus, the Legislature removed the specific minimum time provisions and replaced them with a general obligation to promote full discussions by the candidates in accordance with Federal law.
The issue presently before us is to determine what constraints, if any, these three statutory provisions — N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h), N.J.S.A. 48:23-9 and N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 — were intended to place on the Public Broadcasting Authority’s coverage of New Jersey gubernatorial elections. This determination must be made in light of the Authority’s unique position as both an instrumentality of the New Jersey government and a crucial source of television exposure for gubernatorial candidates.
B. The Public Broadcasting Authority Act
The “balance, fairness and equity” provision and the prohibition against political activities, N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) and -9, respectively, clearly prohibit the Authority from becoming an advocate for any political position or candidate. The Authority cannot endorse candidates or legislation and it cannot actively use its stations to advance its views on the public issues of the day. The Legislature envisioned full, balanced discussion of public issues.
The Legislature’s need to mandate balance was obvious. As discussed, supra at 123-24, a Governor plays a substantial role in appointment of Authority personnel. Not only does he appoint the members of the Commission, which is “the head of the authority,” N.J.S.A. 48:23-2, but he must approve the Commission’s designee for Executive Director and he retains the power [127]*127to dismiss him. To eliminate the resulting risk that the Authority might become politicized, the Legislature enacted precautionary measures. The provisions are intended to eliminate any appearance of impropriety. The Legislature must have recognized that the public perception that a Governor was using the Authority to advance his own political ends would be almost as damaging as the reality, both to New Jersey public broadcasting and to New Jersey politics in .general. Finally, regardless of the danger of improper influence, it was deemed inappropriate for the Authority to use its stations to advance particular political positions or candidates.
The Authority seeks a narrow construction of these provisions. The prohibition in N.J.S.A. 48:23-9 against “supporting or opposing any political party or candidate for public office” could be read merely to prohibit actual endorsement or financial contributions, and the “balance, fairness and equity” language of N.J.S.A. 48:23 — 7(h) could be interpreted to be a mere restatement of the “fairness doctrine” of the Federal Communications Act.9 We do not believe that so narrow a construction was intended. The State statutory standards, though not necessarily inconsistent with the federal standards relating to fairness, are more expansive. In the present context, they encompass a duty to cover elections in a balanced fashion. Because of the weighty considerations underlying the Authority’s duty to provide balanced coverage and in light of N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39, to be discussed presently, we hold that N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) mandates “balance, fairness and equity” in the Authority’s coverage of the gubernatorial candidates. Similarly, we believe that since a substantial imbalance in the Authority’s election coverage can have the same effect as an actual endorsement, N.J.S.A. 48:23-9 [128]*128also encompasses a “balance, fairness and equity” constraint on Authority election coverage.
C. N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39
In ordering the Authority to include plaintiffs in its “Closer Look” forum on the issues, the Appellate Division found an “imperative of equal time” running through N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39. McGlynn v. New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority, 181 N.J.Super. 577 (App.Div.1981). The Authority claims that any equal time obligation that might have been present in this provision prior to the 1981 amendment has been eliminated by that amendment. It asserts that the statute now requires merely promoting full discussion of the election itself, with the means of doing so and decisions on the participation of individual candidates left to the Authority subject only to the constraints of Federal law.
We start by examining the language of the amended provision. Nowhere does it contain the words “equal time.” To read a strict equal time requirement into the statute would thus be an act of judicial legislation. That is not, however, to say that the statute does not impose an affirmative duty; at very least, the Authority is required to actively cover the campaign. The question is how the Legislature meant the Authority to carry out this directive. The Authority argues that it was given unbridled discretion to promote discussions by the candidates; respondents counter that the statutory guidelines constrain the Authority’s discretion.
The Authority relies heavily on the reference to Federal law in N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39, as amended in 1981. The Authority argues that this demonstrates the Legislature’s intent to remove any state restrictions on the amount of broadcast time each candidate was to receive. Thus, the Authority’s policy would be governed solely by the Federal Communications Act, which gives maximum discretion to broadcasters.10
[129]*129The Authority seeks to buttress this position with the legislative history of the 1981 amendment, which was passed, at least partially, in response to the presence of 21 candidates on the ballot in the impending gubernatorial primaries. Realizing that the specific time provisions would hamper the Authority given the number of candidates to be covered, the Legislature delegated to the Authority the responsibility to determine how best to promote full discussions by the candidates. Thus, the sponsor’s statement to the bill indicates that the amended bill
would direct the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority to provide coverage of the gubernatorial primary and general election campaigns and give the authority the discretion, within the limits of Federal and State Law, as to the manner in which it does so. [emphasis added]
The committee statement accompanying the bill is similar in its direction:
This bill amends the election laws to permit the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority a greater degree of flexibility in the promotion of the discussion of public issues by gubernatorial candidates in the primary and general election campaigns.
This legislative history is a good indicator of what the Legislature intended the 1981 amendment to provide. Evidently, the amendment was prepared as a response to the large 1981 primary field and the effects it would have on Authority election coverage. The amendment should be read in the light of its legislative history. Clearly, the Legislature’s general approach to the problem was to vest greater discretion in the Public Broadcasting Authority. Nonetheless, we do not believe that the Legislature meant to remove all limitations on the Authority’s discretion. Rather, the amendment was enacted to remove the minimum coverage requirements, and only thereby to increase the Authority’s discretion regarding election coverage.
Several facts lead us to disagree with the Authority’s argument that the State meant to repeal all constraints on Authority coverage of gubernatorial elections save those imposed by the Federal Communications Act. First, that construction renders the new provision mere surplusage, since the Authority is required to abide by the Federal Communications Act independent [130]*130of N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39.11 Such a construction is to be'avoided wherever possible. In re Toms River Water Co., 82 N.J. 201 (1980); 2A Sutherland, Statutory Construction (4th ed. 1973), § 46.06.
Second, the mandate to “promote full discussions * * * by the candidates” denotes more than the general federal exhortation to operate in the public interest. It at least requires the Authority to actively cover gubernatorial elections, but we believe that it does more. Reading the statute in light of related statutory provisions, it is evident that the Legislature imposed a duty to promote full discussions by the candidates in a balanced, fair and equitable fashion. It is difficult to see how the legislative mandate of full discussions among the candidates can be accomplished if some of the candidates are continually excluded from the discussions, or if the opportunity to appear provided to the candidates is grossly inequitable. We believe that the Legislature did not intend such a result.
The language of the statute points directly to the opposite result. It mandates discussion by “the candidates ... on the ballot in any primary or general election. . . . ” N.J.S.A. 19:44A — 39. This language is inclusive; it does not give the Authority the liberty to continually exclude candidates who have fulfilled the legal requirements for getting listed “on the ballot.” It similarly would not allow unfair or imbalanced coverage of those candidates.
The concurring opinions contradict themselves in their interpretation of the State statute. On the one hand, they concede that the statute imposes a duty to promote full discussions — a duty not imposed by federal law. On the other hand, they say federal law grants the Authority complete discretion to determine the manner of compliance. Our concurring colleagues thus [131]*131make the specious and groundless claim that the Legislature, while placing a legal duty upon the Authority, did not intend that the duty be enforced. Rather than recognize the legislative mandate, the concurring opinions creatively rewrite it.
We are persuaded as well by the context of the statute that N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 was meant to preclude gross imbalance in the “full discussions,” and that it must be read in light of the N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) mandate that controversial issues be presented with “balance, fairness and equity” and the N.J.S.A. 48:23 — 9 prohibition against supporting candidates. First, N.J. S.A. 19:44A-39 remains a part of major campaign spending reform legislation, the underlying theme of which is equalizing the opportunity of the candidates for governor to present their ideas to the jpopulace. See N.J.S.A. 19:44A-27. Gross imbalance in access to television coverage would work against that goal.
Second, the statement of the sponsor of the 1981 amendment stated that the Authority was granted discretion “within the limits of Federal and State law.” [Emphasis added] This makes clear that the Authority was meant to be subject to State regulation as well as FCC regulation. The reference must be to the other two provisions, discussed above, which deal with the content of the Authority’s political programming: N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) and —9. We concluded earlier that those provisions mandated “balance, fairness and equity” in the Authority’s coverage of the gubernatorial candidates. That conclusion strengthens our belief that N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 places similar constraints on the Authority.
To sum up our discussion of the New Jersey statutory scheme, we conclude that the Public Broadcasting Authority Act and the amended Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Act must be read in pari materia. The provisions of each, separately, raise a strong implication that, consistent with its broad discretion to determine broadcast content, the Authority’s campaign coverage must'be executed with “balance, fairness and equity.” [132]*132Reading them together, that conclusion becomes inescapable. We therefore hold that the Authority is vested with wide discretion in determining broadcast content but that, with respect to coverage of a gubernatorial campaign, it is required by New Jersey statute to promote full discussion of the issues by the candidates, consistent with “balance, fairness and equity.”
The great discretion we have given the Authority goes completely unnoticed by our concurring colleagues, thus preventing an accurate reading of the majority’s holding. They mistakenly assert that the majority has imposed a comprehensive regulatory scheme on the Authority, making judges the new programmers of New Jersey public television. They conjure up the vision of Big Brother watching over the Authority and “sitting with them at every meeting.” (Infra, at 139-140) Nothing could be further from the truth. As we have construed it, State law gives great discretion to the Authority to make programming decisions, subject only to considerations of fairness.
Nor is there any basis for Justice Pollock’s argument that our holding today may convert New Jersey public television into a “public forum” to which all citizens will have a right of access. We agree that such a result would be undesirable and was not intended by the Legislature. But we strongly reject the notion that this result follows from our holding today. We have certainly not created a general right of access to public television.
“Public forum” is a legal designation given to certain places, “such as public streets, sidewalks, and parks,” L. Tribe, American Constitutional Law at 689, where historically everyone has been, free to speak, subject only to “time, place or manner” restrictions. Id. at 689. See, e.g., United States Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations, 453 U.S. 114, 101 S.Ct. 2676, 69 L.Ed.2d 517 (1981); Greer v. Spock, 424 U.S. 828, 96 S.Ct. 1211, 47 L.Ed.2d 505 (1976).
This “public forum” concept has been strictly limited to those areas in which tradition mandates a right of access. See, e.g., [133]*133United States Postal Service, supra (mailboxes not public forum); Greer, ' supra (public areas of military base not public forum); Adderly v. Florida, 385 U.S. 39, 87 S.Ct. 242, 17 L.Ed.2d 149 (1966) (grounds of county prison not public forum); City of New York Municipal Broadcasting System, 56 F.C.C.2d 169 (1975) (radio and television airwaves not public forum). The requisite tradition of general public access to the broadcast media is totally lacking.
Justice Pollock argues that the New Jersey statutory scheme, as we have construed it, converts New Jersey public television into a public forum. However, a place becomes a public forum only when it has been “dedicated to public use.” Muir v. Alabama Television Commission, 656 F.2d 1012, 1020 (5th Cir., Sept.1981). The right of access created by New Jersey statute is limited to “candidates [for Governor] on the ballot.” N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39. It thus concerns only legally qualified candidates, in only one election, which occurs only once every four years.
CBS v. FCC, 453 U.S. 367, 101 S.Ct. 2813, 69 L.Ed.2d 706 (1981), is directly on point. The United States Supreme Court there held that 47 U.S.C. § 312(A)(7), which gives candidates for federal office a right of access to FCC-licensed stations, does not create a general right of access.
Petitioners are correct that the Court has never approved a general right of access to the media. Nor do we do so today. Section 312C&X?) creates a i/mited right to “reasonable” access that pertains only to legally qualified federal candidates and may be invoked by them only for the purpose of advancing their candidacies once a campaign has commenced. [Id. 453 U.S. at 396, 101 S.Ct. at 2830 (emphasis in original)]
Our holding today will not give the public a general right of access to New Jersey public television.
IV
This does not conclude our inquiry, however. It remains to be determined what “balance, fairness and equity” mean in the context of a gubernatorial election, and how that standard should be applied to the instant case. Before turning to those [134]*134issues, however, we must examine appellants’ constitutional claims. Appellants have argued, first, that the Federal Communications Act pre-empts State law and, second, that the First Amendment precludes any State limitation on the editorial discretion of the Authority.
A. The Supremacy Clause
1. Federal Communications Act
Most law concerning broadcast communication in the United States is derived from the FCA, 47 U.S.C. § 151 et seq., specifically § 301 et seq. dealing with radio and television communication. The FCA created the FCC, a federal regulatory agency which is assigned the function of licensing radio and television stations. 47 U.S.C. § 303(7). All licensees are obligated to abide by the FCA and by . regulations adopted pursuant to it by the FCC. The four television stations operated by the Authority are FCC licensees.
FCC licensees are subject to minimal content regulation. Licenses are awarded as “the public interest, convenience, and necessity will be served,” 47 U.S.C. § 307(a), and licensees are required to “operate in the public interest.” 47 U.S.C. § 315(a). But, for the most part, Congress and the FCC have limited government regulation of programming decisions.
One significant area of regulation is 47 U.S.C. § 315, the “equal opportunity” provision. Initially, it simply provided that any licensee allowing one candidate for elective office to “use” its station must allow all other candidates for that office the same opportunity to use the station. If air time is sold to one candidate, comparable air time must be offered to all candidates; if air time is given free to one candidate, it must be offered free to all.
Recognizing radio’s [and television’s] potential importance as a medium of communication of political ideas, Congress sought to foster its broadest possible utilization by encouraging broadcasting stations to make their facilities available to candidates for office without discrimination.... [Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union v. WDAY, 360 U.S. 525, 529, 79 S.Ct. 1302, 1305, 3 L.Ed.2d 1407 (1959)]
[135]*135Congress realized that a grant of an FCC license was potentially a grant of significant power and concluded that licensees should be limited in their ability to parlay this power into electoral success for themselves or their favorites. See S.Rep.No. 562, 86th Cong., 1st Sess., U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News pp. 2564, 2571 (1959); Primer on Political Broadcasting, supra, at 2216. Section 315 thus embodies the dual policy goals of active political debate and equal political debate.
In 1959, Congress altered the balance between these goals by significantly amending § 315(a), declaring that appearances by candidates on bona fide (1) newscasts, (2) news interviews, (3) news documentaries, or (4) coverage of news events do not constitute a “use” of the station which triggers the equal opportunity provision. It is universally accepted that this amendment was a response to the FCC’s Lar Daly decision, Columbia Broadcasting System, 18 P. & F. Radio Reg. 238, recon. den., 26 F.C.C. 715, 18 P. & F. Radio Reg. 701 (1959), in which televised film clips of Mayor Richard Daley, incumbent and candidate for re-election, performing various mayoral functions were held to trigger the equal opportunity doctrine. Congress feared that such an all-inclusive equal-time requirement “would tend to dry up meaningful . . . coverage of political campaigns,” S.Rep.No. 562, supra, at 2572.
The inevitable consequence [of Lar Daly] is that a broadcaster will be reluctant to show one political candidate in any news-type program lest he assume the burden of presenting a parade of aspirants. [Id. at 2571]
Thus, Congress concluded as a result of Lar Daly that active political debate and rigidly equal political debate were conflicting policy goals.
The Congressional response was to amend § 315 by adding the four exemptions enumerated above.12 Thus Congress effectuat[136]*136ed its conclusion that, insofar as news coverage was concerned, “the public benefits [of a high volume of news coverage] are so great that they outweigh the risk that may result from the favoritism that may be shown by some partisan broadcasters.” S.Rep.No. 562, supra, at 2572.
Congress delegated to the FCC the responsibility to construe the new exemptions:
It is difficult to define with precision what is a newscast, news interview, news documentary, or on-the-spot coverage of news event .... That is why the committee in adopting the language of the proposed legislation ... gave the Federal Communications Commission full flexibility and complete discretion ... [to determine whether a particular program is exempt], [S.Rep.No. 562, supra, at 2574]
In exercising this discretion, the FCC has given the exemptions “rather full sway.” Kennedy for President Com. v. FCC, 636 F.[137]*1372d 417, 423 (D.C.Cir.1980). Thus, in rejecting Ann Klein’s petition for inclusion in the “Closer Look” forum on the issues, the FCC wrote:
In order to encourage uninhibited news coverage, the Commission believes its appropriate role in this area requires deferring to the good faith news judgments of broadcasters. To this end, the Commission will not substitute its judgment for that of the broadcaster, but rather will disturb such decisions only when they are found to be unreasonable or in bad faith. This policy is applicable to broadcasters’ determinations of whether particular programming falls within any of the news exemptions, as well as journalistic judgments concerning what material should be presented in news programming. [Ann Klein, Docket No. 8330-B, C5-860 at 3 (5/29/81) ]
Simply stated, the FCC policy is to leave it to the individual broadcasters to determine the degree to which the equal opportunity rule should be enforced in news broadcasting. This policy determination by the FCC derives from its determination not to risk inhibiting active news coverage.
2. Pre-emption
The Authority argues that § 315 pre-empts any state provisions which impose upon broadcasters ¡greater equal opportunity obligations than the FCA, as construed by the FCC, imposes. State law is pre-empted in one of two situations: (1) where “Congress has either explicitly or implicitly declared that the states are prohibited from regulating” in this area, Ray v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 435 U.S. 151, 157, 98 S.Ct. 988, 994, 55 L.Ed.2d 179 (1978) or (2) where a state statute “actually conflicts with a valid federal statute.” Id. at 158, 98 S.Ct. at 994. The test for determining whether actual conflict exists is “whether, under the circumstances of [a] particular case, [the state’s] law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress.” Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67, 61 S.Ct. 399, 404, 85 L.Ed. 581 (1941), quoted in Jones v. Rath Packing Co., 430 U.S. 519, 526, 97 S.Ct. 1305, 1310, 51 L.Ed.2d 604 (1977).
Were this a case involving a privately owned broadcasting station, the pre-emption issue would be more difficult to resolve. The state mandate to cover elections with “balance, fairness and [138]*138equity,” though not prima facie inconsistent with § 315, represents an emphasis that differs from the high degree of deference which the FCC gives to its licensees.
The New Jérsey Public Broadcasting Authority, however, is not a private broadcaster. Rather, it is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey. It is owned and financed by the State of New Jersey, and its officers are appointed directly or indirectly by the Governor. This simple fact is dispositive of the pre-emption issue.
In K.S.B. Tech Sales v. No. Jersey Dist. Water Supply, 75 N.J. 272 (1977), and Hughes v. Alexandria Scrap Corp., 426 U.S. 794, 96 S.Ct. 2488, 49 L.Ed.2d 220 (1976), this Court and the United States Supreme Court held that the Commerce Clause does not apply to a state acting as purchaser of goods rather than as regulator of private purchases. As Justice Stevens explained in his concurring opinion in Hughes:
It is important to differentiate between commerce which flourishes in a free market and commerce which owes its existence to a state subsidy program. Our eases finding that a state regulation constitutes an impermissible burden on interstate commerce all dealt with restrictions that adversely affected the operation of a free market. This case is unique because the commerce which Maryland has “burdened” is commerce which would not exist if Maryland had not decided to subsidize a portion of the automobile scrap-processing business. [Id. at 815, 96 S.Ct. at 2500, quoted in K.S.B. Tech Sales, supra, at 296]
While the state as regulator is prohibited from discriminating against out-of-state commerce, the state as purchaser has the same freedom as a private citizen to choose with whom it will engage in commerce.13 Thus, in K.S.B. Tech Sales, this Court upheld a statutory requirement that contractors with the State or local governments buy only American products.
[139]*139The principle is the same in this case. In terms of federal pre-emption, the State of New Jersey can be viewed as acting here in its capacity as proprietor of the Public Broadcasting Authority stations rather than in its capacity as regulator of private broadcasting. Under Federal law, the FCC has granted broad discretion to the owners of licensed television stations to design the election coverage of their stations. The State, considered as owner of the four stations that constitute the Public Broadcasting Network, in effect has used this discretion granted by Federal law by deciding that coverage shall be characterized by “balance, fairness and equity.” Viewed in this light, such a determination is not contrary to Federal law; indeed, Federal law gives New Jersey the authority to make such a determination.
It follows, in this context, that N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 is not a governmental restraint upon a broadcast medium. Rather, it constitutes an exercise of discretion on the part of the State in its capacity as a Federal licensee under the FCA.14 Thus, since the statutes in question were passed pursuant to, rather than in conflict with, the FCA, the statutes are not pre-empted by the FCA.
The FCC policy of granting maximum discretion to individual broadcasters has freed New Jersey to adopt a policy for election coverage that addresses the Authority’s unique situation. Because of the absence of adequate coverage of New Jersey elections by the private stations, the voters of New Jersey are largely dependent upon public television to provide election information. Therefore, the State has assured that New Jersey public television will fill the need by calling for promotion of [140]*140“full discussion of public issues by the candidates.” However, again because of the inadequacy of private coverage of New Jersey gubernatorial elections, the Authority’s position approaches that of a monopoly. This position suggests an obligation to be balanced and fair in election coverage which exceeds the duty on stations regarding elections which may be adequately covered by private broadcasters. Moreover, the special danger of improper influence on election coverage that is faced by a government-owned station militates in favor of greater emphasis on balanced coverage. The Legislature has responded to these needs by placing a greater émphasis on balanced coverage than the FCC requires of a licensee.
In sum, the FCA, as construed by the FCC, does not preclude balanced election coverage; rather, it gives licensees the freedom to determine how strongly they wish to stress balance in their election coverage. New Jersey has acted pursuant to that freedom, taking into account the special position of the Authority vis-a-vis New Jersey gubernatorial elections, and has determined that its election coverage should be balanced, fair and equitable, and it has done so pursuant to Federal law. Its actions are perfectly appropriate within the federal scheme of regulation. We therefore hold that the FCA does not pre-empt the State statutory scheme concerning election coverage by the Authority.
This conclusion flows from the premise that the Authority can for present purposes be regarded as an agency of the State.15 Nevertheless, even if the Authority were more appropriately characterized as an autonomous entity, we would still reach the same result with respect to the impact of Federal law.
[141]*141As previously noted, state regulation is fully pre-empted only in those areas in which the federal interest is so dominant that it leaves no room for conflicting State involvement. Ray, supra, 435 U.S. at 157, 98 S.Ct. at 994. There can be no question that through the FCA and the creation of the FCC, Congress has developed a comprehensive federal scheme for addressing broadcast regulation problems. However, that scheme is not so comprehensive as to exclude all State involvement. See Head v. New Mexico Bd. of Examiners in Optometry, 374 U.S. 424, 83 S.Ct. 1759, 10 L.Ed.2d 983 (1963) (Court upheld State advertising regulations challenged on grounds of federal pre-emption under the FCA). Rather than pre-empt the field, federal law permits reasonable State regulation which is not repugnant to or inconsistent with the federal approach. Therefore, State law must stand where “there has been no showing of any conflict between . . . State law and the federal regulatory system.” Id. at 432, 83 S.Ct. at 1764.
The State statutory scheme under which the Authority functions is neither repugnant to nor inconsistent with federal law. As we have explained, Congress in 1959 was faced with an apparent conflict between its desire to encourage wide-ranging political coverage and debate on the airwaves and its goal of equalizing opportunity to receive access to radio and television time among candidates for elective office. Congress, and the FCC in construing the Congressional intent, have tipped the scales substantially towards volume of news coverage, sacrificing equality if necessary.16
In the case of New Jersey public television, the conflict between quantity and balance does not arise with nearly the same force. New Jersey has resolved that its television stations will provide both a high level of coverage and a balance among the candidates. Nobody has ever suggested that it is impossible [142]*142to do both. The Congressional fear in 1959 was that “equal opportunity” would deter private broadcasters from providing any election coverage. That danger is simply non-existent in this instance, since N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 places a legal duty on the Authority to promote full discussion of the issues. We have no doubt that the Authority can carry out that mandate in a spirit of “balance, fairness and equity.” 17 Consequently, there is no conflict between the State regulatory scheme and the terms or goals of the FCA.
B. The First Amendment
Appellants and amici suggest that any State regulation constraining the Authority’s journalistic discretion conflicts with the Authority’s First Amendment rights. As with the pre-emption argument, however, plaintiffs’ contention that the First Amendment bars the Legislature from mandating fairness is without force in the context of a television network owned and controlled by the State. The Authority is the State’s agent, and its power, limitations and restrictions have been prescribed by the State. To contend that the agent is not bound by those statutory provisions because of the First Amendment would be anomalous indeed.
The First Amendment limits governmental restraints on private participation in the marketplace of ideas. However, it does not prevent government itself from participating, Community-Service Broadcasting, Etc. v. F.C.C., 593 F.2d 1102, 1110, n.17 (D.C.Cir.1978); L. Tribe, American Constitutional Law, 588-90 (1978), and when the State exercises its freedom to [143]*143speak, it may express its own viewpoint, Community-Service Broadcasting, supra, at 1110, n.17; Tribe, supra, at 590, or it may neutrally relay the messages of others. The goal of the New Jersey statutory scheme is to use the State television network to neutrally relay the messages of the candidates for governor of New Jersey.
Appellants’ First Amendment argument incorrectly relies upon case law concerning private broadcasters and newspapers. See, e.g., Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241, 94 S.Ct. 2831, 41 L.Ed.2d 730 (1974); Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee, 412 U.S. 94, 93 S.Ct. 2080, 36 L.Ed.2d 772 (1973); National Association of Independent Television Producers and Distributors v. F.C.C., 516 F.2d 526 (2d Cir. 1975). Two other cases, Accuracy in Media, Inc. v. F.C.C., 521 F.2d 288 (D.C.Cir.1975), and Community-Service Broadcasting, supra, also relied upon by appellants, involve public support for private non-commercial broadcasting and are therefore also not pertinent. These cases state in essence that Congress cannot condition receipt of such support by private recipients on acceptance of restraints on speech that Congress could not impose directly. Community-Service Broadcasting, supra, at 1110. The concern there is limiting governmental restraint on the private recipients of government assistance. Here, by contrast, no private speech is being limited. Thus the State statutes here are not laws abridging speech and they do not invade the First Amendment rights of any citizen.
We therefore affirm the constitutionality of N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39, N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) and N.J.S.A. 48:23-9.18
[144]*144Thus far, we have held that the New Jersey statutory scheme, consisting of N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) and -9 and N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39, obligates the Authority to promote full discussion of the issues by the gubernatorial candidates in a spirit of balance, fairness and equity as among the candidates. We have further held that the New Jersey statutes, thus construed, are not pre-empted by the Federal Communications Act or proscribed by the First Amendment. It remains for us to consider in detail the meaning of “balance, fairness and equity” and to apply it to the case at hand.
V
We start with a basic proposition: there is no equal time requirement under the statute. N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 does not include the words “equal time.” To read a strict minute-for-minute equal time provision into the Act would be unwarranted judicial legislation. The balance and equity principle was not intended to reinstate for the Authority the defunct equal time rule. It is rather a general admonition to assure that the Authority’s election coverage over the course of the campaign is not on the whole unfair to any candidate. Further, the clear import of the 1981 amendment to N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 is that this admonition not be construed strictly or inflexibly. Rather, it is to be read in a spirit of reasonableness. That amendment also indicates that the staff of the Authority has been delegated a significant degree of discretion in carrying out this mandate of fairness.
[145]*145N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 also makes reference to “federal law.” As we have held, we do not believe the reference indicates an intent that federal law supplant state law. Nor do we believe the Legislature intended to repeal or modify N.J.S.A. 48:23-7(h) and 48:23-9. To the contrary, we construe N.J.S.A. 19:44A-39 to mean that the State mandate of balance and fairness should be read in conjunction with the relevant Federal Communications Act provisions. While federal law was not meant to supersede the state provisions, it was meant to be taken into account, to be read in pari materia with the state provisions. See Sponsor’s Statement, L.1981, c. 107. The statute does not give an express formula for construing the state provisions in the light of the FCA. We believe, however, that the Legislature contemplated the special treatment given to bona fide news programs under § 315 which exempts such coverage from the “equal opportunity” provisions.
We therefore conclude that the Authority has been given a higher degree of discretion regarding newscasts, news interviews, news documentaries and coverage of news events. This does not mean that the fairness mandate is obviated in those instances. The Legislature did not intend the FCA to supersede the State provision. Rather, the Authority should be given wider leeway to implement its journalistic judgment in those areas, but its exercise of discretion is still constrained by the duty to provide balance, fairness and equity in its coverage of candidates.
Of course, “newscast,” “news interview,” “news documentary” and “news event” are not self-defining terms. The FCC has developed rather elaborate case law defining these terms. For the FCC, it has been necessary to try to develop a sharp distinction between what those terms cover and what they do not, since the triggering of the equal opportunity rule turns on the application of that distinction. No such sharp distinction is necessary here since under New Jersey law all programming— news or otherwise — remains subject to the fairness mandate. [146]*146Instead, the Authority should be guided by a rule of reasonableness in light of the type of program involved. Some programs are clearly news, others are clearly debates, and still others fall somewhere between those two categories.19 The greater the news content of a given program, the more the Authority can feel free to allow its journalistic judgment to guide its actions.
The Legislature has provided us and the Authority with general principles rather than specific rules of law. We are not prepared at this point, on the basis of only one case, to seek to deduce detailed rules from these general principles. More importantly, we are convinced that the Legislature did not wish the courts to set forth detailed rules. It has stated that the Authority is to be given substantial discretion in abiding by the legislative mandate; laying down a set of detailed guidelines would be a violation on our part of the Legislature’s intent. It would also pre-empt the Authority’s rule-making power.
Thus, we hold that the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority has a statutory duty to promote full discussions of public issues by gubernatorial candidates and to do so with balance, fairness and equity. This duty does not impose the constraints of strict equal time programming. The touchstone is [147]*147basic fairness, and the Authority is to have substantial discretion to determine what is fair in light of its journalistic judgment. This discretion is to be even wider in the case of newscasts, news interviews, news documentaries and coverage of news events. A candidate wishing to challenge the Authority’s coverage of a gubernatorial campaign will be required to prove that the Authority’s coverage, examined over the entire course of the campaign, has been or threatens to be unreasonably imbalanced.
VI
We now turn to the claims raised by plaintiffs. They did not allege that the Authority’s overall coverage of the election campaign was unfair or imbalanced. Rather, they alleged that the Authority unfairly excluded them from a week-long forum on the issues to be aired during the potentially pivotal final week of the primary campaign. They asserted that this was unreasonable and contrary to New Jersey law. The ease came to us on an emergent basis, denying us the time to fully and carefully explicate the statutes at issue, which had not been previously construed by this Court. Our initial reading of the New Jersey statutes revealed a requirement of balance and fairness in the coverage of gubernatorial campaigns. The challenged exclusion of candidates McGlynn and Rafferty from an important election program during the final week of the campaign appeared to violate the fairness requirement. For that reason, we affirmed the Appellate Division order that all candidates on the ballot for the Republican gubernatorial nomination be included in the “Closer Look” forum.
We emphasize now that the statute governing the Authority, designed to promote the public interest, does not confer on an individual candidate a right to be included in any given program or series of programs. His only right is to fairness, balance and equity in the entirety of the Authority’s election coverage over the course of the campaign. With the benefit of added oral and written argument upon the rehearing, we find adequate support [148]*148in the record that the Authority’s overall coverage of the gubernatorial primary campaign was fair, even without including the plaintiffs in the final week’s “Closer Look” forum. The decision to exclude plaintiffs was a reasonable exercise of the broad discretion vested in the Authority to make editorial judgments in accordance with Federal and State law.
We confess to total puzzlement at the dire predictions made by our concurring colleagues that our decision today ■ has wrought a broadcasting holocaust. The imprecation of such a journalistic calamity is difficult to fathom since we reach precisely the result called for by the concurring opinions — one which recognizes the generous freedom enjoyed by the Authority under Federal and State law and its proper exercise in this case.
The Cassandra-like tone of the concurring opinions, it seems to us, is exaggerated. They fail to credit the Judiciary with common sense and an appreciation of the importance of the role of the Authority. We do not envisage any supervisory role by the Judiciary in the broadcast field. We expect that judicial involvement will be rare, and judicial review fully responsive to the freedom of action which the Legislature has given the Authority.
We note that the Authority continues to possess delegated power to promulgate rules and regulations to give specific content to the broad legislative mandate. The Authority is urged to implement its rule-making authority to provide guidance in this area.
For the foregoing reasons, upon rehearing, the Court clarifies its earlier determination and reverses its summary order. The judgment of the Superior Court, Appellate Division, is reversed and the complaint is dismissed.
439 A.2d 54 (McGlynn v. New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.