A recent law passed by Governor Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Legislature will bring an end to public notices in the media. For newspapers operating in New Jersey, this comes as a significant blow, as the newspapers still running in the state relied on governmental funding that came with advertisements provided by the state in these papers.
Previously, government advertisements were legally required to be printed in newspapers. This was to ensure public knowledge of municipal meetings, planning applications in the area, sheriff news and official governmental actions. These have been a staple section of the newspapers in the state for decades.
This comes on the back of many of the newspapers resorting to their online presence due to the effects they are feeling of the digital age. For decades, newspapers were the focal point of local news, but since the dawn of the recent digital age have slowly been pushed aside as social media and the internet have offered much easier access to information to everyone around the globe. The impact of the modern digital way has not been limited purely to newspapers and media, particularly in New Jersey. The land-based casinos in Atlantic City have reported year-on-year losses, with the latest figures advising a 2.7% decline in revenue. This comes off the back of the recent introduction of online gaming and the boom of the iGaming industry in the state. Many punters have opted to wager their bets online, where the markets are extensive, allowing people to play all sorts from poker to roulette. Indeed, even traditional games and gambling spots such as Mahjong and horse racing have moved to the likes of Mahjong365 classic mahjong and multiple different sports betting sites in the area.
As many of the newspapers have turned to digital forms in order to survive and remain relevant, they have continued to benefit from the governmental funds for these sorts of advertisements. Whilst there was a reform in place from February which allowed the state advertisements to operate on their online publication, this was only ever a short-fix before the recent decision was made to halt the advertisements in papers altogether.
Moving forward the New Jersey state seems to be embracing the cultural shift to the digital age now. Their governmental updates will be posted free of charge on their websites and not through the newspapers. The likes of the Star-Ledger, Jersey Journal and South Jersey Times have already made the move to digitize their content but with this comes the issue of funding, which increasingly becomes harder due to the free access offered by many papers to their online content.
New Jersey newspapers are not alone in this battle to modernise. Many papers around the world have had to embrace online content, subscription plans and paywalls to survive. This has proved to be a worthwhile venture as many still remain prominent in the digital age, but it is an increasingly tough battle for many more local papers that don’t have the same sort of reach as the national or international news outlets.
This governmental change in New Jersey is perhaps indicative of the governmental shift towards digital media and a move of liberalism towards a stronger social program to combat the rising cost-of-living crisis affecting many in the state.