Newark Star-Ledger

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 2:22pm on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

Newark Star-Ledger Editor Jim Willse has announced his retirement and named a successor, the Star-Ledger reported on September 28, 2009:

"Jim Willse will retire next month as editor of The Star-Ledger, and Kevin Whitmer, the paper’s managing editor, will succeed him, it was announced today.

Willse was The Star-Ledger editor for the past 15 years, during which time the newspaper won a host of national journalism awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes. It is considered one of the best regional papers in the country.

“It’s been a terrific run,” Willse told the staff at a noontime meeting. “It has been a great privilege to edit this paper and work with this staff. It’s also been an incredible amount of fun.”

Willse came to The Star-Ledger in 1995 after working on Internet projects for Advance Newspapers, the parent company. He succeeded Mort Pye, who had been editor since 1957.

"Jim inherited a great newspaper from Mort Pye and was a worthy successor," said Donald Newhouse, president of Advance Publications. "With a sure touch he served our readers, New Jersey, his staff and the profession brilliantly and with dedication. And he gave me two of the most thrilling days of the 40-plus years I spent at the Star-Ledger - when the newspaper was awarded its two Pulitzer Prizes.

Whitmer joined The Star-Ledger in 1996 and, before becoming managing editor, served as sports editor and supervised financial coverage and the Sunday paper. He and Willse were colleagues at The New York Daily News, where Willse was editor and Whitmer the sports editor.

Whitmer, 42, grew up in Phillipsburg and attended Rutgers University. He got his start in journalism as a part-time clerk answering phones in the Sports department at The Courier-News. He also worked at the New York Post. He and his wife, Regina, live in Scotch Plains with their three children."

The full story:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/star-ledger_editor_jim_willse.html

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 10:42pm on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

A group of former Star-Ledger journalists have started a web site to compete with their former employer, Editor & Publisher reported on April 27, 2009:

"So what do you do when you have lots of newspaper experience and a year's salary from a recent buyout at The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.?

You start a Website.

That seems to be the view of some 40 former Star-Ledger staffers who took the lucrative early retirement last fall and have since banded together to form newjerseynewsroom.com.

"We had started talking about doing this even before the buyouts were made," said Matt Romanoski, who spent five years at the paper, leaving as deputy sports editor. "There were several people involved early on."

The buyouts were among 151 in the Star-Ledger's 330-person newsroom last fall. They occurred after the paper threatened to close or sell if cost-cutting was not achieved.

The Web site launched two weeks ago and is headed by three former veterans of the Advance Publications daily - Romanoski, Garrett Morrison, and Andrew Lagomarsino."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 6:20pm on Thursday, February 19th, 2009

February 18, 2009: The Star-Ledger will share content with four other newspapers in the region. From the press release:

"Five major newspapers in the northeast today announced an agreement to share editorial content. The New York Daily News, Albany Times Union, The Record (Bergen Co., NJ), The Buffalo News, and The Star-Ledger have formed the Northeast Consortium, a cooperative arrangement that will enhance each publication's coverage in the region by exchanging articles, photographs and graphics among the newspapers.

Jim Willse, editor of The Star-Ledger, said, "The consortium is an opportunity for strong newspapers to become even stronger by sharing coverage. We look forward to contributing and receiving a variety of great stories."

Heather Sickels    Boulder, CO

Posted at 3:18pm on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Taken from an online New York Times articles published January 18, 2009--

"But among the 20 highest-circulation newspapers in the United States, 19 have changed their top editors in this decade — several of them more than once. The lone exception is The Star-Ledger, in New Jersey, whose editor, James P. Willse, has had his job since 1995."