Advance Plans Star-Ledger Sale Unless Staff Buyout Quota Is Met

Advance Publications Inc. will sell The Newark Star-Ledger unless 26% of staff accept buyouts by October, the company told employees in a recent letter. Star-Ledger’s publisher said if 200 of the paper's 750 full-time employees don't apply for a buyout by Oct. 1, and if it doesn't get new agreements from unions representing its mailers and drivers, the NJ paper will be sold. Advance will also sell sister paper The Trenton Times unless 25 staff accept buyouts, the paper's publisher said in a separate letter to staff. It is unclear how many people work at the smaller paper in the NJ capital. The publisher said although they have implemented a variety of plans to reduce expenses and create new sources of revenue, their financial picture continues to deteriorate. They simply have been unable to offset the unprecedented and continuing steep decline in advertising revenue, he added. He said the paper had already retained J.P. Morgan Chase to help them plan a sale. Advance Publications said recently it will close its Newhouse News Service in Washington in Nov. Advance, controlled by the Newhouse family, owns 26 daily newspapers, including The Portland OR Oregonian; The Cleveland  Plain Dealer and The New Orleans Times-Picayune. It also owns Conde Nast Publications, the 2nd-biggest magazine publisher in the country.