BUY OUT OR LAYOFF - HOME NEWS TRIBUNE

In an email to all employees on Friday the Home News Tribune asked employees 55 and older to consider voluntary buy out options. The paper told the employees that if enough staff do not take the buy out then mandatory layoffs may be coming.

It is a sad day but one which we knew was coming. Only time will tell where the paper is headed. It is unknown if similar offers were made to other Gannett New Jersey papers.

SHAKE UP - STAR-LEDGER / HOME NEWS

Changes are coming to area newspapers!

Star-Ledger
It has been talked about for some time but now it appears it will come true - no more county sections. The Star-Ledger long rumored to be axing its local section will end the practice soon. These sections use to focus on counties Sunday thru Friday. I predict this scaling back will have a ripple effect with advertising and reporters. This change is bad news especially for areas like Union County who have limited dailies.

Home News Tribune
The newspaper has decided to create twelve weekly papers on top of their daily paper. These weeklies will be a breakdown of areas already covered by the daily. But dont fool yourself into thinking it is about more in depth coverage, its not. This is all about ad revenue. The weeklies are believed to be able to generate ad money from local businesses that want a focused audience. The reason we know it is not about better coverage is because the paper is not hiring more staff. The paper is using the same reporters from its dailies to generate stories for the weeklies. This is a recipe for disaster - but we will have to wait and see.

ANOTHER REPORTER LEAVES THE FIELD

Tom Moran the top political columinst at the Star-Ledger has left. His sudden departure, which was hinted at weeks ago here, has gotten little attention. Moran was voted best political reporter in 2007 by Politics NJ. He always seemed to be a straight shooter who did not hesitate to be critical of government officials. His columns on Chris Christie's conflicts seemed to depart from a friendship he had formed but were fair criticism. I think his departure is a big loss for the Ledger but we will have to see who they pick to replace him.

Change on the Way

The continuing newspaper crisis has change on the way for some New Jersey newspapers. The Home News Tribune and Courier newspaper employees have been told they are now to consider themselves a central New Jersey newspaper. Emails from the top brass at Gannet suggest the two newspapers are no longer separate. A change in email address from their individual papers name to a regional name is also headed their way.

The fiscal problems of the newspaper industry will soon take a toll at different media outlets as well. The top New Jersey newspaper will feel the affect soon.