The Hudson Reporter chain of local weekly newspapers was shut down Friday in an announcement that caught its staff by surprise.
Hudson Reporter staff members say Newspaper Media Group General Manager Brandon Chamberlain told the reporters, the managing editor and other members of the small staff in an online meeting the newspapers and its website was ceasing operations immediately, citing “revenue versus expenses.”
The Pennsauken-based Newspaper Media Group purchased the chain in 2018.
It published the Bayonne Community News and editions of the Hudson Reporter in North Bergen, Jersey City, Hoboken, Union City, Weehawken and West New York, as well as lifestyle magazines Bayonne — Life on the Peninsula, Jersey City Magazine and 07030 Hoboken.
“They pulled the rug out from under us,” said Reporter Daniel Israel, who noted between five and 10 employees who lost their jobs. “It came as a total surprise.”
At the time of the announcement, the staff was preparing to finalize next week’s editions. On its website, Newspaper Media Goup said it distributed more than 46,000 copies of the weekly newspapers and more than 29,000 magazines. The Hudson Reporter chain was founded by developer Joseph Barry in 1983, starting with the Hoboken Reporter.
Chamberlain did not return a call for comment Friday. It could not be determined Friday if any of the other Newspaper Media Group’s publications in Central Jersey, South Jersey and Philadelphia would also close.
Israel said the Reporter staff was told they would not be receiving severance pay.
Like most news publications, the Hudson Reporter’s staff was trimmed over the past two decades as more people turned to the internet for their news and newspapers suffered losses in advertising. At the time of its closing, the chain had two reporters and one editor.