Getting News in South Jersey Might Get More Expensive

The Courier-Post is a fine publication with many top-notch writers, editors, photographers and others who perform excellent work – often in spite of the management on site and in the corporate offices in Virginia.

But, if it's your primary source of news in South Jersey, it's about time to dig a little deeper into your wallet.

Gannett, the megacorporation that owns the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, the News Journal in Delaware, the Daily Journal in Vineland, the Asbury Park Press, USA Today and about 75 other newspapers around the United States, is in the process of rolling out paywalls at every one of its sites (except USA Today). 

The plan is to have a paywall –or "new content subscription model," in Gannett doublespeak – in place at every site by the end of the year. How it will work is up to the individual sites.

All this is happening while Gannett continues to cut employment across the board (the estimate is that this round will result in 20 fewer employees at the Courier-Post). But those 665 buyouts are nothing compared to the 700+ layoffs in 2011, the 1,400 layoffs in 2009 or the 3,000 layoffs before Christmas 2008.

And those left behind have been subjected to numerous requirements of weeks off without pay.

(On the plus side, a fair number of the people who Gannett cast off landed at Patch sites around the state and beyond. Gannett's loss has been the gain of those with an interest in local news everywhere.)

So there you have it. Gannett is cutting, cutting, cutting the Courier-Post, resulting in fewer people working harder to try to cover hundreds of towns, schools, events and more. And then it's turning around and trying to make you all pay more for less.

If you want to make your voices heard on the issue, you might want to contact the management at the paper. According to the information provided on their site, you can contact Executive Editor Gene Williams at gwilliams@gannett.com or you can contact Managing Editor Leon Tucker at ltucker@gannett.com.

(DISCLAIMER: I used to work at the Courier-Post. After 10 years serving as the paper's Editorial Page Editor then New Media Editor, I found employment elsewhere and resigned last August. I still have many friends there and wish them nothing but the best.)