Whats the Borg Family Doing After North Jersey Media Group Sale
If you asked a Clifton resident 20 years ago what local paper they read, there were more a handful of local papers to choose from including the Clifton Journal, the Herald News, and The Tape. Ask a Clifton resident that question today, and they may struggle to name one.
The Consolidation of News in Clifton and Northward Jersey
The consolidation of local news in Clifton began slowly in the 1970's and lxxx'due south when several daily newspapers including the Clifton Journal and Dateline Clifton merged to create the Dateline-Periodical. In broader Passaic County and North Jersey in the mid 1980'due south several regional family-owned papers covering Clifton news merged to eventually form The North Bailiwick of jersey Herald News and The News. Both of those papers then merged in 1987 and were sold to the Borg family unit, owners of the honor-winning paper known for its investigative journalism, The Tape. In 1992, the Borg family unit appear a pooling of resources to cutting costs amid two of its North Jersey papers and Southward Jersey's The Asbury Park Press.
In 2000, the Borg family unit formed North Bailiwick of jersey Media Group which at its peak ran 50 local newspapers in NJ, including Clifton'south largest weekly newspaper, The Clifton Journal.
Just this consolidation accelerated quickly five years ago in 2016, when the Borg family sold North Bailiwick of jersey Media Grouping to national media visitor Gannet Co. Inc., the Virginia-based publishers of The states Today. Shortly after, as is typical in corporate buyouts, layoffs were announced and the N Jersey news staff was cut in one-half past over 500.
The 2016 buyout made Gannet the largest news publisher in NJ. A reduction in local news coverage in Clifton was felt vividly compared to the prior iv decades of competing coverage by daily and weekly papers.
Clifton too experienced another phenomenon of news media buyouts, "ghost papers," those that retain the original name but carry footling actual local news. This is most evident in the weekly press of The Clifton Journal, which may contain i Clifton story simply no longer covers in-depth weekly community reporting of the city including the Metropolis Quango and Board of Teaching meetings, Planning and Zoning Board meetings, Highschool sports, or activities of its many charitable, cultural, religious and community organizations.
Sadly, this tendency is happening across the country as out-of-land or national bondage buy out customs and regional papers. In the decade between 2008 and 2018 due to a combination of the digital revolution, rise of social media, and economic recession, 50% of news staff in American were lost, leaving cities with no source of local news.
What is a News Desert?
According to the Columbia Journalism Review, a news desert is any "uncovered geographical area with few or no news outlets that receives little coverage." Clifton, in its current state, certainly meets this criteria. A recent survey of NorthJerseymedia.com revealed an average of just ane to two Clifton-specific stories per month over the past year, a metropolis listed among the Top 10 largest in the state with over 90,000 residents whose events and stories filled multiple local papers for over fifty years.
Why is local news important?
In the US, local newspapers helps contribute to a sense of community; they characterize, frame and record the debate of issues of import to residents. It'due south that local debate that helps create social cohesion and nurtures customs and political participation.
Economically, local advertising also encouraged primary street prosperity. Today, small businesses compete with corporate giants for ad space on Google and are suppressed by algorithms on social media.
Perhaps nearly importantly, when there is no local paper to investigate political and corporate activeness, coverage of corruption or wrongdoing that keep residents informed simply isn't done. Inquiry has shown that Americans now rely more on social media for news, simply social media is proven to exist awash with faux news, partisan news, and other unvetted misinformation despite recent regulation efforts.
In late 2019, Gannet merged with the paper chain GateHouse Media owned past New Media Investment Group to create the largest news media company in America. Equally function of the merger agreement it will be managed by Fortress Investment Group, a Manhattan private equity firm for two years. Who owns Fortress Investment Group? Softbank, a multinational Japanese conglomerate property company based in Tokyo.
In 2021, The Clifton Times was launched on the Patch Labs platform, a partition of the hyperlocal digital news company, Patch, to assistance fill the void in local news coverage in Clifton. Currently contributed to by half-dozen Clifton residents experienced in journalism and communications, it is a labor of love. The Patch platform includes free registration for residents to contribute stories, share news, and mail events to bring back the local to local news.
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Source: https://thecliftontimes.com/g/clifton-nj/n/65871/whats-news-desert-if-youre-resident-clifton-nj-youre-living-one
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