NJ largest newspaper, the Star-Ledger, and others will end print editions

New Jersey’s largest-circulation newspaper — and several other newspapers serving the Garden State will end print production early next year, according to NJ.com, which runs the news group’s content online.

The Star-Ledger, Times of Trenton and South Jersey Times will all move to online-only editions, NJ.com said in an announcement published on Wednesday morning. But because the Ledger will shut down its plant in Montville, New Jersey, the long-running Jersey Journal — which is formally owned by an affiliated company, the Evening News Association — will shut down entirely after 157 years of operation.

Jersey Journal management said in that paper’s own story published on Wednesday on NJ.com that continuing publication as an online-only entity would not have been viable.

“We fought as hard as we could for as long as we could,” the Journal’s editor and publisher David Blomquist said. “An online-only publication simply would not have enough scale to support the strong, politically independent journalism that has distinguished the Journal.”

The Star-Ledger, Times of Trenton and South Jersey Times will publish their final print editions on Feb. 2, 2025, according to the announcements. The weekly Hunterdon County Democrat will cease publication after Jan. 30, but subscribers will be given access to the online-only version of the Star-Ledger.

The Express-Times, which served Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and parts of Hunterdon and Warren Counties in New Jersey, said it will also cease publication in February. Its newsroom will continue to produce content for LehighValleyLive.com.

The announcement about the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ledger and related newspapers said the changes would have a “significant impact on existing employees” but didn’t specify how many jobs might be lost.