Montclair Local newspaper merging with Baristanet, will be online-only
The nonprofit newspaper Montclair Local and Baristanet, an online news website focused on Montclair, announced a merger on Friday, effective in June.
The combined news operation will be online-only; next week's issue of the Local will be the last.
The announcement was made by Baristanet publisher-editor Liz George, who will be publisher of the new entity, reporting to the Local's board of trustees.
“I’m excited about having the support, resources and wealth of knowledge that the Montclair Local board brings to this combined organization, and with it, the ability to think bigger and execute on ideas to enhance news delivery and go deeper in our reporting,” George said.
In the announcement on Baristanet, she said the merger will avoid duplication of local news coverage, freeing up resources to cover more topics.
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Eliminating the physical newspaper will also save money. Printing costs ate up 40% of the Local's budget while reaching only 3,000 of Montclair's 15,000 households, the paper said in its announcement.
Baristanet, started by Debbie Galant in 2004, with George joining shortly afterward, was one of the first hyper-local digital news organizations in the country and now includes coverage of a swath of surrounding towns. The companies said the merger will boost the Local's limited digital reach, adding 70,000 monthly users from Montclair and a social media presence.
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The Local brings award-winning reporting and a wealth of community support to the union, George said. Their governing board includes media heavyweights such as Pro-Publica's editor-in-chief Stephen Engelberg, New York Times magazine editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein, and former executive editor of the Associated Press Kathleen Carroll.
The Local was launched in 2017 by a local couple, Heeten and Thalla-Marie Choxi, who shared their personal fortune to launch and sustain it, even after it became a nonprofit in 2021. They moved to North Carolina last year, leaving the Local's financial support to individual donors and advertising. A donation from Local trustee Jonathan Bellack is funding the merger.
Ollie Hartsfield, who chairs the Local’s board of trustees, said: “Liz George is a nationally recognized digital leader with deep roots in Montclair. She has a keen eye for stories that resonate and a proven record of business success. She is exactly the right person to lead this exciting new chapter."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Montclair Local newspaper merging with Baristanet, will be online-only
