The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey.
Type
Richard Vezza
Kevin Whitmer
1832
1 Gateway Center Suite 1100
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.[1]
United States
In 2007, The Star-Ledger's daily circulation was reportedly more than the next two largest New Jersey newspapers combined, and its Sunday circulation was larger than the next three papers combined.[4] It has suffered great declines in print circulation in recent years, to 180,000 daily in 2013, then to 114,000 "individually paid print circulation," which is the number of copies being bought by subscription or at newsstands, in 2015.[2]
In July 2013, the paper announced that it would sell its headquarters building in Newark.[5] In the same year, Advance Publications announced it was exploring cost-saving changes among its New Jersey properties, but was not considering mergers or changes in publication frequency at any of the newspapers, nor the elimination of home delivery.[6]
The Star-Ledger is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal in Secaucus, The Times in Trenton, and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications, headquartered in One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.
History[edit]
19th century[edit]
The Newark Daily Advertiser, founded in 1832, was Newark's first daily newspaper. It subsequently evolved into the Newark Star-Eagle, owned by what eventually became Block Communications.
20th century[edit]
In 1939, S. I. Newhouse bought the Star-Eagle from Block and merged it with the Newark Ledger to become the Newark Star-Ledger. The paper dropped Newark from its masthead sometime in the 1970s, but is still popularly called the Newark Star-Ledger by many residents of New Jersey.[7][8]
During the 1960s The Star-Ledger's chief competitor was the Newark Evening News, once the most popular newspaper in New Jersey. In March 1971, the Star-Ledger surpassed the Evening News in daily circulation, because the Newark News was on strike. The Evening News shut down in 1972.[9]
After the Newark Evening News moved to a high-traffic area (with the potential of trapping its delivery trucks in inner-city traffic) the Star-Ledger opened a satellite plant in Piscataway. The Piscataway location offered quick access to Union, Monmouth, Somerset, and Middlesex counties.[10]
The Star-Ledger was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting in 2005 for its comprehensive coverage of the resignation of New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, after he confessed to adultery with a male lover.[11]
The paper awards the Star-Ledger Trophy each year to the number one high school teams in their respective sport in New Jersey.[12]
21st century[edit]
In 2005, George Arwady became the publisher of The Star-Ledger. A graduate of Columbia University, Arwady was previously the publisher of the Kalamazoo Gazette in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Having worked closely with the Newhouse family for years, Arwady was asked to move to Newark to oversee a financial revamping of the newspaper.[13]
Due to financial losses, the paper's parent company Advance Publications announced on July 31, 2008 that it would sell the Star-Ledger unless 200 non-union staff voluntarily left under a buyout offer, and its unionized truck drivers and mailers agreed to concessions.[14] On September 16, publisher George Arwady sent employees an email saying that management felt progress had been made on the buyout and concessions from the mailers, but that management is "far from an agreement with the Drivers' union."[15] The email continued:[15]
On October 24, 2008, the newspaper announced that 168 newsroom employees had offered to take the company's buyout offer, and that the company had accepted 151 of them, which resulted in a 40% reduction in newsroom staff.[16]
On January 16, 2013, the newspaper announced the layoffs of 34 employees including 18 newsroom staff.[17]
In July, 2014, their Newark headquarters was sold to a New York developer, according to a news article released by the paper.[18]
The Star-Ledger continues to publish seven days a week, and retains a presence in Newark in leased office space located within the downtown Gateway Center complex, where the publisher, the newspaper's editorial board, its columnists, its magazine staff and a handful of other jobs will be based. Advance Publications, the owner of the newspaper, launched a new media company — NJ Advance Media — in 2014 to provide content, advertising and marketing services for its online presence at NJ.com, and many of its New Jersey newspapers out of the offices in Woodbridge.[19] The sales and marketing staffs moved to Woodbridge in June 2014.
On Sept. 14, 2023, the paper announced it will cease publication of its Saturday print edition, moving to an all-digital delivery of the Saturday edition beginning in 2024.[20]