Journal Register shuts 33 papers

The Journal Register Company has shut 33 regional weeklies, and may shut more if buyers aren’t found for titles on the market.

The Journal Register came under serious pressure last year, with debt driving the company stock to record lows, resulting in a delisting from the NYSE.

The full list of papers closed or about to close via MediaPost

Millbrook Round Table, the Voice Ledger of Pleasant Valley, the Gazette-Advertiser of Rhinebeck, the Pawling News Chronicle, the Harlem Valley Times, the Hyde Park Townsman, the Register Herald of Pine Bluffs and the Putnam County Courier.

The company is also closing several other upstate weeklies, including Weekend, Dutchess Magazine and the Hudson Valley Guide. Early this month, it closed The Independent, a biweekly based in Hillsdale, NY.

In Connecticut, Journal Register has closed the Bloomfield Journal and is said to be preparing to close the Shoreline Times, Pictorial Gazette, Branford Review, Clinton Recorder and The Advertiser, of East Haven. Two daily newspapers, The Herald of New Britain and the Bristol Press, were saved from closure at the last minute when they were sold to Mike Schroeder, a former Newsday executive who also bought three weeklies: the Wethersfield Post, the Newington Town Crier, and the Rocky Hill Post. The East Hartford Gazette was closed, but its longtime editor Bill Doak has reincarnated it as “The Gazette,” serving as publisher, chief writer, and deliveryman.

In Michigan, Journal Register closed a number of weekly titles under its Up-North Publications division, including the Town Meeting of Elk Rapids, the Petoskey Citizen-Journal and the Northern Star. It is also said to be planning to close the Grand Traverse Insider, the Leader and Kalkaskian , the Antrim County News and the Petoskey-Charlevoix Star.

In Philadelphia, Journal Register closed a number of Philadelphia-area weeklies, including the Northeast Philadelphia Breeze, the News Gleaner, the Olney Times, the Germantown Courier, and the Mount Airy Times Express. It also closed the Hershey Chronicle.

PaidContent reports that The Bristol Press and The Herald, two dailies set to close last November have been saved by a new buyer, good news for the employees, but small fry in the bigger picture of the downturn for both the company, and broader market.