The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) has released the New Jersey Network (NJN) Special Collection, featuring more than 3,000 streaming programs from New Jersey public television dating from 1971 to 2011.
The growing collection will eventually include nearly 25,000 items representing 40 years of programs from one of the largest producers of local public television in the United States, covering governmental, cultural and historic affairs, according to a press release.
Among the featured series are New Jersey Nightly News, later known as New Jersey Network News, acclaimed for its in-depth local news coverage and reporting; Images/Imagenes, an Emmy Award-winning series created to educate viewers about the history, needs, achievements and culture of Hispanic and Latinx communities; State of the Arts, a weekly local program with New Jersey’s creative personalities; Due Process, an Emmy Award-winning legal public affairs program; Public Affairs, On the Record; A Closer Look, Around and About New Jersey; Made in New Jersey; New Jersey Outdoors; and New Jersey Tonight.
The collection also contains raw footage of many New Jersey locations and landmarks, according to the press release.
“The American Archive of Public Broadcasting is proud to make this immense collection of important New Jersey history available to the public and we are grateful to the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority for entrusting their material to this online archive of public media from across the country,” said Karen Cariani, the David O. Ives Executive Director of GBH Archives and GBH Project Director for the AAPB.
“Preserving this locally produced record of regional public affairs will allow researchers, journalists and the public to access thousands of hours of programs covering topics from New Jersey’s natural beauty to Senate debates to folklore,” Cariani said.
GBH Stock Sales, the stock footage licensing division of Boston public media producer GBH, will represent the New Jersey Network (NJN) public television archive database for licensing.
In addition to the programs available online, the NJN database contains additional footage that can be requested for licensing, opening thousands of hours of unique content to archive producers, researchers and documentarians, according to the press release.
The first of four New Jersey PBS stations that eventually made up NJN, WNJT went on the air in 1971, followed in 1972 by WNJS, and in 1973 by WNJN and WNJB.
The state-owned stations were operated by the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority first under the name New Jersey Public Television and later as New Jersey Network or NJN.
In 2011, the state entered into an agreement with Public Media NJ Inc., a nonprofit affiliate of WNET, to provide public television programming and services on these channels under the name of NJ PBS and online at mynjpbs.org.