Newark’s Star-Ledger will publish its final newspaper on Feb. 2.
Newark Morning Ledger Co., which owns the Star-Ledger, cited rising costs, decreasing circulation and reduced demand for print as reasons it’s shutting down its Montville, N.J., production plant and going digital, according to the paper’s website, NJ.com.
The Jersey Journal will also end 157 years of printing newspapers at the start of February as a result of Newark Morning Ledger Co. closing its production facility.
NJ.com also reports its parent company, Advance Local — which owns NJ Advance Media too — will stop printing The Times of Trenton and South Jersey Times on Feb. 2.
“Today’s announcement represents the next step into the digital future of journalism in New Jersey,” NJ Advance Media president Steve Alessi said in a statement reported by NJ.com.
Alessi called going digital a “forward-looking decision” that will allow the company to allocate resources to the journalism produced by its newsroom rather than a print product.
He said his company’s newsroom employs more reporters than it did a year ago and expects to get even bigger next year.
NJ Advance Media journalists will continue contributing material for NJ.com and digital versions of The Star-Ledger, The Times of Trenton and South Jersey Times. Star-Ledger employees cut loose will reportedly receive severance and transition assistance.
NJ.com claims its online traffic — 15.2 unique visits in the most recent month for which data was available — make it the nation’s largest local news site. By contrast, the Star-Ledger’s print circulation has reportedly dropped more than 20 percent in the past year.
The Star-Ledger is New Jersey’s largest newspaper.
According to NJ.com, Newark’s first newspaper was The Daily Eagle, which hit newsstands in 1832. That paper became the Newark Star-Ledger in 1939 when it merged with the Newark Star-Eagle. “Newark” was formally dropped from the title more than 30-years later.
The Star-Ledger’s era-ending news spread quickly on social media, where the future of physical newspapers stoked debate.
“Same old story: ‘Rising costs, decreasing circulation and reduced demand for print,’” CNN media reporter Brian Stelter posted on X.