Gannett Purchases North Jersey Media Group Publications

Gannett Co. Inc., the company that owns USA Today and more than 100 other daily newspapers across the country, announced a deal Wednesday to purchase dozens of publications owned by North Jersey Media Group, including The Record and the company's slate of weekly newspapers.

Gannett expects the acquisition to "contribute approximately $90 million in annual revenues," the company said in a press release. A price was not disclosed.

"This latest acquisition positions the company to be the leading news provider in the state of New Jersey,” said Robert Dickey, president and CEO of Gannett.

In addition to The Record, Gannett will add the Herald News, the Passaic County edition of The Record, the Community News Group, the Magazine Group, and the Events Group, and their affiliated digital properties to its ownership portfolio. Gannett did not say if the acquisition would affect the number of jobs at North Jersey Media Group.

The deal signals the end of more than 50 years of ownership by the Borg family, which purchased the paper, then known as The Bergen Record, in 1930. North Jersey Media Group is based in Woodland Park. The company also has several satellite offices located throughout North Jersey.

“The Borg family built a strong foundation over the many decades of its ownership of North Jersey Media Group. We will continue to build upon its legacy of strong journalism, successful community engagement and effectively connecting advertisers to the audiences they seek,” said John Zidich, Gannett's president of Domestic Publishing. “We are focused on being the best news organization in the state.”

Malcolm "Mac" Borg, chairman of the board, turned the company into the North Jersey media powerhouse that it is and made The Record the second-most widely read newspaper in the state. Borg's son Stephen is the company's president.

"Today, I announce that the Borg family will be leaving a business we have nurtured and loved for 86 years and which is now in its fourth generation," Borg wrote in a letter to employees obtained by POLITICO.

"We've always strived for excellence, whether investigating politicians, covering a town meeting, breaking news online such as the George Washington Bridge scandal, printing and distributing our and other publications or even photographing a house for one of our magazines. Our stories got laws changed, revealed epidemics like heroin in the suburbs, helped clean up the environment, and stopped corruption, among many other positive effects."

Gannett also owns the Asbury Park Press, the Daily Record, the Courier News, the Daily Journal, and the Courier-Post, and the Home News Tribune.

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