Montclair, NJ Gets New Local Newspaper

Journalists in Montclair, New Jersey have started a new weekly local newspaper, Montclair Local.

When newspaper publisher Gannett bought The Montclair Times as part of Gannett’s acquisition of the Times’ parent company North Jersey Media Group last year, subscribers were disappointed with changes to the newspaper.

After Gannett laid off 250 NJMG employees following the acquisition, Montclair journalists took matters into their own hands, creating a competitor to the Times to report on the community.

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“Montclair has a long tradition of a strong newspaper in town for 140 years,” editor of the Montclair Local, Kevin Meacham, told Publishers Daily. He was previously the managing editor at The Monclair Times.

Meacham said there was “immediately a noticeable change in what the Times looked like and what the content had,” after it was acquired by Gannett. People were fairly upset by that because it is a well respected institution in town," he said.

One of those who expressed their discontent was Heeten Choxi, a tech executive who heavily invested in the newspaper to get it off the ground. He first got in touch with a former Montclair Times reporter, Gwen Orel, who is now the Montclair Local’s culture editor.

“They got to talking and thought it was worth taking a shot at filling the void that was left when Gannett took over,” Meacham said.

While a new print product may seem counterintuitive -- especially in a town that already has a local newspaper -- a section on the Montclair Local's Web site explains their reasoning, noting the benefits of a printed weekly:

"These benefits include: covering a broad variety of topics in a single paper that is easy to browse; a slower news cycle that enables reporters to dig deeper and provide more depth; making news accessible to people that are more comfortable with print over digital.”

Stories in the first issue of the broadsheet newspaper, published Thursday, include coverage of groups in Montclair mobilizing against President Trump, an update on the board of education’s budget, and an article on the new Montclair Orchestra.

Montclair Local has a full-time staff of four reporters, an editor, an associate editor, and an editorial assistant, who is also the photographer.

All but one of the newspaper’s staffers came from NJMG, and three previously worked at TheMontclair Times.

The broadsheet newspaper is broken up into two sections. The A section includes news, opinion, letters to the editor, and essays from leaders in town, as well as listings and a community calendar. The B section covers sports and culture, with community stories and features.

Meacham said they sent the first issue to “every household in town,” about 15,000 residential addresses. The first few issues will be free. Soon, they plan on charging about 75 cents per issue and $12 for an annual subscription.

Meacham said eventually they will raise the prices.

The Montclair Local aims to be the “neighborhood newspaper” for the town, known for its diverse, highly educated and politically liberal residents. According to Politico’s Morning Media, at least 100 New York Times employees live in Montclair.

“We want to be at every board meeting and every high school football game and we think people in town appreciate that depth of coverage we can do because of the way we are set up,” Meacham said, noting it is “a very small business, and a small company, and most of us live in town,” distinguishing their publication from the Montclair Times.

Meacham said the response from the community, shared in the form of letters, Facebook messages, and tweets, has been “positive, heartening and supportive."

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