Times Herald, Other Local Papers Await Bankruptcy Sale

Journal Register Company, which owns six daily newspapers in the Philadelphia region, filed for bankruptcy in September. The new owner may not retain all the current employees.

The Times Herald of Norristown, the Pottstown Mercury, and the Lansdale Reporter will have a new owner in April, pending a judge's approval of the company's bankruptcy sale. The Associated Press reports that Journal Register Company has sought a judge's approval to be purchased by 21st CMH Acquisition Co., an affiliate of current owner Alden Capital, for about $120 million. 21st CMH Acquisition Co. was the sole bidder in an auction to purchase the Bucks County-based company, which filed for bankruptcy last September. The company had previously filed for bankruptcy in 2009. CEO John Paton cited onerous building leases and other "legacy obligations" as a factor in the most recent bankruptcy filing. Citing an article in the New Haven Register…

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Lansdale Able to Acquire Reporter Property for Wood-Vine Connector

Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, had filed a declaration of taking for the right-of-way owned by Goodson Holding Company and Journal Register Co. at Derstine Avenue and Wood Street in Lansdale. Goodson Holding Co. and JRC are in bankruptcy court

The Wood-Vine Connector Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative Project is back on track, now that Lansdale Borough can obtain right-of-way from the property of The Reporter Newspaper. Solicitor Mark Hosterman announced this month that the bankruptcy court has lifted an automatic stay in Goodson Holding Company's bankruptcy reorganization case. "The borough is allowed to acquire the right-of-way necessary for the property," Hosterman said. "We are in the process of doing that right now." Lansdale Council in October contracted Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC to provide legal services on behalf of the borough, in order to obtain relief from an automatic stay. Lansdale Borough, through Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, filed…

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Journal Register Co. Bankruptcy Stunts Wood-Vine Project

The right-of-way acquisition process for the Wood-Vine Connector in Lansdale is halted by as much as 90 days due to bankruptcy filing for the parent company of The Reporter. Property needs to be acquired from The Reporter property for the project.

It’s going to be at most 90 days before anything can progress further on the Wood-Vine Connector PCTI Project in Lansdale, due to the bankruptcy filing of the parent company of The Reporter affecting right-of-way acquisition. Following a brief executive session last Wednesday, Lansdale Borough Council authorized Borough Manager Timi Kirchner to allow the law firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC to provide legal services on behalf of the borough in order to obtain relief from an automatic stay in Goodson Holding Company’s bankruptcy reorganization case. Lansdale Borough, through Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, will file a declaration of taking for the right-of-way owned by Goodson Holding Company and Journal Register Co. at …

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Owner of The Reporter Could Reduce Frequency of Daily Editions

Journal Register Company CEO would consider reducing print frequency of newspapers in certain markets

According to Poynter.org, Journal Register Company, which recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, could eliminate one or two daily print editions at some of its 20 daily newspapers. CEO John Paton said he would consider the change for the newspapers which show strong advertising growth for online editions, which also lack resources to produce seven quality daily papers each week. Paton has praised the New Orleans Times-Picayune plan to print only three days a week, but said for JRC the reduction might mean only eliminating one or two editions. Paton noted that he's considering the reduction based on declining print revenues and increasing digital revenues. Journal Register Company, which owns The Reporter as well as several other local …

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Journal Register Co. Files for Chapter 11

The owner of The Reporter in Lansdale, The Mercury in Pottstown and The Times Herald in Norristown will be sold promptly, according to reports.

Digital First Media announced Wednesday that its subsidiary Journal Register Company is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the second time since 2009. JRC operates The Reporter in Lansdale, The Mercury in Pottstown and The Times Herald in Norristown, among other local papers. JRC filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and "will seek to implement a prompt sale," according to Digital First Media. Digital First Media operates MediaNews Group and Digital First Ventures. According to a press release from Digital First Media, the auction and sale would take 90 days. Digital First has reportedly signed a stalking horse bid for JRC from 21st CMH Acquisition Co., an affiliate of the …

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Patch Editor Begins Venture as Reporter Boss

Ann Cornell, former Perkiomen Valley Patch editor, takes over as the new executive editor of The Reporter in Lansdale today

Patch Editor Named Reporter Executive Editor

Ann Cornell, an alumnus of Lansdale Catholic, will take over as head of The Reporter Newspaper in Lansdale on June 4

Meet the new boss. Perkiomen Valley Patch Editor Ann Cornell has been hired as the new editor-in-chief of The Reporter Newspaper in Lansdale. Cornell will replace former executive editor Nona Breaux, who retired as editor-in-chief in December 2011 after 38 years. The Lansdale Catholic graduate begins her new venture on June 4. "It's a new challenge for me," Cornell said. "Why I came to Patch was to learn more and have an opportunity to be back in the field, do reporting and embrace the new direction journalism is taking." Cornell holds a bachelors in journalism from Temple University, graduating in 2005.  From 2005 to 2010, Cornell worked at The Times Herald in Norristown, beginning as a copy editor and working her way up to news editor. …

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Times Herald Plunges Into the Cloud

Norristown's daily paper leads the way for parent company JRC's digital efforts.

According to News & Tech, a trade publication for the newspaper industry, Norristown's own Times Herald will be the first of parent company Journal Register Company's (JRC) daily newspapers to begin using a cloud-based version of content management and publication software by Saxotech Mediaware Center. What does that mean for Times Herald readers? Probably not much difference in the daily paper (though apparently they've had some issues with stories re-running by accident) and a few bugs in the website as they get the new system up and running (Editor Stan Huskey addressed these issues in a recent editorial.) But the real difference may be how you get your news from The Herald in the future. The new system is part of a new initiative to …

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Will The Mercury Rise Or Fall?

The veteran editor of Pottstown's long-running daily vows to carry the paper through the news industry’s volatile evolution

Nancy March is unshakable when it comes to her passion: “Being first, being right.” Years ago, she considered that a “hard job,” she said. A lot has changed since then. Even before the most recent economic downturn, the newspaper industry struggled for a decade or more to come to grips with technology-driven changes in the delivery of news to the public. The mainstream emergence of the Internet in the mid-1990s forced newspapers to adapt quickly to a new medium that didn't fit their traditional business models.  Advertising became measured in mouse-clicks instead of page inches. It also got a lot cheaper. Websites like Craigslist and eBay eroded newspapers' classified ad sections, which had long been an industry cash cow. Meanwhile, …

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