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The Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest newspaper, is taking “the next step into the digital future of journalism” by shutting down its print newspaper and closing its Montville, NJ, print production facility. The Star-Ledger’s owner, Newark Morning Ledger Co., attributes the move to rising costs, decreasing circulation and reduced demand for print. The final print edition of the Star-Ledger, as well as those of the Times of Trenton and South Jersey Times will be published on Feb. 2, 2025. The Star-Ledger’s sister publication, Jersey City-based, 157-year-old The Jersey Journal, is going out of existence completely. In addition, Advance Local, which owns NJ Advance Media and NJ.com, is ceasing publication of the weekly Hunterdon County Democrat, whose subscribers will have access to the Star-Ledger’s online newspaper. NJ Advance Media’s journalists will continue to produce content that appears on NJ.com, as well as in the online newspapers of the The Star-Ledger, The Times of Trenton and South Jersey Times. NJ Advance Media president Steve Alessi said the shutdown will let the company “invest more deeply than ever in our journalism and in serving our communities.”
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The Washington Post has shed 250,000 subscribers—10 percent of its subscriber base—since it made the decision not to endorse a candidate in the presidential election. “It’s a colossal number,” former Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli told NPR. An article in the Los Angeles Times indicated that, after making the same decision, it is suffering too—losing 7,000 subscribers as of Oct. 28. The Times also said it had received “as many as 1,000 emails and letters protesting the non-endorsement” by that date. Post owner Jeff Bezos said his only regret about the decision was making it “known when passions are heated so close to Election Day.”
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NewsMatch, the largest grassroots fundraising campaign to support nonprofit news in the US, begins on Nov. 1 with what it says is a record amount of funds pledged. So far, the annual campaign, spearheaded by the Institute for Nonprofit News, has received pledges totaling $7.5 million from eighteen national and regional funders. Since 2017, participating news organizations in the INN Network have leveraged $31 million in NewsMatch funding to help generate nearly $300 million in support from their communities. This year’s drive, which runs until Dec. 31, includes a fund that supports newsrooms led by and serving communities of color, a newly launched fund to support rural newsrooms, and a variety of statewide and local funds. “We know the civic health of our communities depends on access to reliable, truthful information, and INN has been a key part of this movement to bolster access to local news,” said Tim Murphy, a program officer for the McKnight Foundation (a major INN funder).
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
