Baruch College freshman Salma Eid has lived in New Jersey for five years and has already seen a stark contrast to the quantity of local papers. Eid, who studies management, would read the local papers to figure out what was going on in her new town, from the events to the block parties.

“I honestly think it kind of helped me fit in; it was almost like a blueprint,” she said.

Over the past two decades, New Jersey has lost around 60% of its print papers and 49 of its digital papers from 2021 to 2025, according to Gothamist. Even legacy papers like the Jersey Journal, which was in operation for 157 years, closed in 2025.

The Star Ledger, founded in 1832, went fully digital in February 2025. In a post, the team explained that due to rising costs and decreased demand for print issues, they couldn’t continue it.

Given the growth of digital media, many papers closed because users prefer to find free outlets with no paywall or visit social media for news.

“I feel like now I just rely on my phone for everything,” Eid said. “If something big is going on, I’ll check my phone.”

A reliance on free online content has caused roughly 80% of newsrooms to make $500,000 or less a year. 

In many states, policy makers began to make laws to help local papers. 

In 2018, a grantmaking consortium was created in New Jersey, which has raised $10 million in funding for 65 organizations, according to Monadnock Ledger-Transcript.

 Local News Day, celebrated on April 9, was created to help bolster local news.

“Local newspapers focus on what’s happening in your town, your neighborhood,” Eid said.

“With fewer local newspapers, I feel like the options we rely on are more vague and cause a disconnect from what’s actually going on in your town.”