Advance consolidation coming to NJ

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/12/owners_of_star-ledger_njcom_and_sister_newspapers_studying_possible_consolidations_within_properties.html

Channel conflict my butt (with the exception of the Ledger and Jersey Journal having overlap in news coverage area)
The major dailies each serve a distinct part of the state (Star Ledger - the majority of north jersey and north-central nj; Jersey Journal - the county area around Jersey City; The Times of Trenton - Mercer County and northern Burlington County; the South Jersey times - the extreme southern part of the state).

There's already shared resources for production (some of the dailies paginate the weeklies, the dailies are printed off-site), shared resources for paid obituaries and death notices, a shared website that each paper contributes its own content to, What's next?

 

Consolidating production/copy editing for all the papers at one location ... that's next ...

 

I wouldn't think Newark would reduce frequency, not with the NY dailies right across the river and actively covering NJ. Still, I've learned never to say never in this business.

 

Employees received a memo saying the study will take several months to complete, but the only thing that has been decided is that the frequency of publication for all papers will stay the same.

 

Which means the decisions have been largely made. Look at the honest and forthright way management handled New Orleans.

 

It makes sense and should've probably been done months ago. The trial balloon was what occurred in Alabama and New Orleans.