Star-Ledger Gives a N.J. 'Or Else' Ultimatum to Unions

Unless it exacts more than $9 million in concessions from unions, Advance Publications-owned The (Newark) Star-Ledger, the Garden State's largest newspaper and the nation's 16th largest daily, will cease publication by the end of 2013, Publisher Richard Vezza warned staffers in a letter this week.

Vezza said the Star-Ledger expects at least to match last year's $19.8 million in losses in 2013. His letter sets a Sept. 27 deadline to reach a settlement with unions that would involve their giving up the roughly $9 million the daily claims it could bank through outsourcing. Blaming sagging ad revenues and declining circulation that have plagued newspapers industry-wide, as well as the unique devastation wreaked on the N.J. economy by Hurricane Sandy, the Star-Ledger earlier this year shrank its newsroom workforce by 10 percent by slashing 34 jobs (see "TUOL" post 1/18/13).

Advance Publications is privately held by the Newhouse family and is not required to disclose publicly its earnings figures. The Star-Ledger (the household paper with which the devoted staff of "TUOL" grew up) has a daily circulation of more than 340,000, 160,000 of whom are digital subscribers, and a Sunday readership of more than 432,000, 140,000 of those being online viewers.

Management previously employed The Sopranos-like "or else" negotiating tactics in 2008 to win buyouts and concessions from drivers and mailers unions in 2008. Editorial staffers in the Star-Ledger newsroom are not unionized.

N.J. Blogger Protected by Shield Law, Judge Rules

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Union County (N.J.) Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy last week extended the Garden State's shield law [N.J. Stat. sec. 2A: 84A-21 to 21.8] to protect a 51-year-old Cranford blogger who alleged county employees misused portable generators during Hurricane Sandy, the Star-Ledger reported.

Judge Cassidy said Tina Renna, whom prosecutors had subpoenaed to reveal the names of the 16 county workers she alleged improperly used the generators, should be shielded by the statute from having to disclose the information, according to the Star-Ledger article. Renna "obtained material in the course of professional newsgathering activities," Judge Cassidy wrote, to disseminate the information over the Internet.

Renna, the gadfly spouse of a former independent candidate for county freeholder, often targets Union County elected officials in blog posts, the quality and tone of which didn't necessarily sit well with the Court. Nevertheless, the trial court decision seemingly expands shield law protection to electronic media denizens.

The Union County prosecutor's office is weighing whether to appeal Judge Cassidy's ruling, the Star-Ledger reported.

Fading Star-Ledger

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Thirty-four newsroom jobs evaporated at The (Newark) Star-Ledger yesterday, as the Advance Publications-owned daily shed 10 percent of its workforce, according to accounts by the Star-Ledger and Associated Press.

The ravages of Superstorm Sandy joined declining circulation and plunging ad revenues on the usual laundry list of reasons for the massive job reduction. Although the pink slips were distributed among the IT,  circulation and advertising departments, the shockwaves were strongest in the newsroom, where 18 employees were ousted, including copy editors, photographers, news and photo editors.

The Star-Ledger, the nation's 16th largest daily with a combined digital and print readership of 311,904, according to the Alliance for Audited Media, has seen its newsroom shrink to 175 from 195. "TUOL" has chronicled the ongoing financial hardship of the Star-Ledger (see "TUOL" post 7/13/12), which included a massive buyout in 2008 in which 304 workers, including 151 newsroom staffers, took the money and ran.

Star-Ledger publisher Richard Vezza, in an understatement, called yesterday a "difficult day," while Editor Kevin Whitmer acknowledged the daily was unable to continue to support certain positions on the paper.
Terminated staffers were given a week-and-a-half severance pay for each year of service to a maximum 26 weeks and provided health care and job counseling during that period.

The Newhouse family-owned Advance Publications wielded the job axe at other chain publications yesterday, including The Express-Times in Easton, Pennsylvania, which trimmed 12 jobs from its 234-member staff, and the South Jersey Times, which employed 150 before 11 workers were sent packing.

According to the AP account, the Star-Ledger is the largest content provider to the free NJ.com Web site, which draws from Advance-owned dailies and weeklies. The Star-Ledger is a non-union shop.

The layoffs resonated among the devoted New Jersey-born staff of "TUOL," which turned to the Star-Ledger after the afternoon daily Newark Evening News folded, and read the paper throughout middle school and high school.