Star-Ledger, sadly, is in decline

The Star-Ledger, which has for much of its existence served as the state’s paper of record, announced today its first official mass layoff. As the paper’s NJ.com site reports,

The jobs of 34 Star-Ledger employees — including nearly 10 percent of the newsroom — are being eliminated in the first large-scale layoffs in the history of the state’s largest daily newspaper, publisher Richard Vezza said this morning.

Eighteen part- and full-time staffers in The Star-Ledger’s newsroom of 195 employees are expected to be laid off today, along with 16 positions in other departments. The totals include 19 full-time employees and 15 part-time positions.

Vezza said the layoffs are “not a foreshadowing the demise of the paper,” but it is hard to view the continued erosion of the state’s largest news source as anything but part of a long-term decline that will have dramatic effects on the state’s democratic governance.

The Ledger — along with the other large dailies (The Record and The Asbury Park Press) — remains the primary source of state news for most New Jerseyans. The growth of sites like NJ Spotlight — for whom I write and without a doubt the best and most comprehensive — and smaller weekly online sources, including The Alternative Press, the Patch network and other independents, can help offset some of the damage, but we remain just a supplement to what the big boys can do.

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet