NJN, Gannett and the Cincinnati Reds

Kent Manahan’s impending retirement as anchor of New Jersey Network news has reignited discussion about the propriety of a news organization funded by the government it covers. But the relationship between NJN and New Jersey state government is just one example of the many strange bedfellows resulting from the media consolidation that has taken place in recent years.

For example, during the telecast of last night’s baseball game between the New York Mets and Cincinnati Reds, an advertisement for CareerBuilder, the nation’s largest online job site, appeared prominently on the fence behind the batter in the shots from the Reds’ Great American Ballpark. CareerBuilder is owned by the Gannett Company, which publishes 85 daily newspapers, including USA TODAY and several New Jersey publications. Among Gannett’s other holdings is partial ownership of a baseball team that just happens to be the Cincinnati Reds.