The Star-Ledger to discontinue print version after final edition on Feb. 2, 2025

The publisher of The Star-Ledger announced to the staff in an email this morning that the New Jersey Advance Media will stop the print edition of the paper after a final edition to be printed, Feb. 2, 2025.

The company also announced there will be layoffs.

The news shouldn’t be shocking – the industry has been collapsing for decades. New Jersey Advance Media, in fact, has made its digital version, nj.com, its top priority for years.

But still, to a generation of readers who helped make the paper the most powerful media outlet in the state for years, it is shocking news.

(Full disclosure, I worked for the Star-Ledger for nearly two decades.)

The company announced the news in a story posted on NJ.com at 9:36 this morning, writing.

“The Star-Ledger will cease publishing a print newspaper and will close its Montville production facility in February 2025. The decision was made by the Star-Ledger’s owner, Newark Morning Ledger Co., due to rising costs, decreasing circulation and reduced demand for print.

“In addition, Advance Local, which owns NJ Advance Media and NJ.com, announced that it is ending print publication of dailies The Times of Trenton and the South Jersey Times, as well as the weekly Hunterdon County Democrat. Online newspapers for The Star-Ledger, The Times of Trenton and South Jersey Times will continue to be produced seven days a week for subscribers. The online newspaper provides subscribers with 10+ exclusive daily pages of additional local and national content not found in the current printed newspaper.”

Steve Alessi, President of NJ Advance Media, said in the story that the announcement “represents the next step into the digital future of journalism in New Jersey.”

“It’s important to emphasize that this is a forward-looking decision that allows us to invest more deeply than ever in our journalism and in serving our communities,” he was quoted as saying in the story.