New Jersey’s biggest newspaper, the Star-Ledger, said Wednesday that it will stop publishing its print edition in February amid rising costs and slumping demand for print.
New Jersey’s biggest newspaper, the Star-Ledger, said Wednesday that it will stop publishing its print edition in February amid rising costs and slumping demand for print.
The 85-year-old publication’s owner Advance Local said it is also closing the Montville, NJ production facility and ending the print publication of dallies The Times of Trenton and the South Jersey Times, as well as the weekly Hunterdon County Democrat.
“Today’s announcement represents the next step into the digital future of journalism in New Jersey,” said Steve Alessi, president of NJ Advance Media. “It’s important to emphasize that this is a forward-looking decision that allows us to invest more deeply than ever in our journalism and in serving our communities.”
The newspaper has a storied history in the Garden State. In 1939, SI Newhouse bought Newark’s first daily newspaper, the Star-Eagle and merged it with the Newark Ledger to become the Newark Star-Ledger.
Newark was dropped from the title in the Seventies.
Alessi said there will be layoffs as a result.
The company did not respond to requests about how many employees will be let go.
The final print editions of the Star-Ledger, Times of Trenton and South Jersey Times will be published on Feb.
