WEST MILFORD— AIM newspapers ceased publishing this week, on the heels of being sold from the Borg family to Gannett, one of the largest publishing companies in the country.
A trendIn the last five years, many of the largest newspaper companies, including Gannett, which publishes USA Today and 100 other daily papers, have been buying up independently owned papers and merging them or shutting them down.
At the same time, independently-owned hyper-local publications, such as the West Milford Messenger, have continued to do well.
Editor and Publisher, a trade publication for the newspaper industry, reported last summer that "small, community newspapers across the country are not just surviving, but — in many cases — actually thriving.” The article quoted Chip Hutcheson, president of the National Newspaper Association. "It's not the doom and gloom that major market papers face," he said.
Nancy Meyer, president of the North Jersey Media Group, said the company had some consolidation to do.
"We had 53 weeklies across northern New Jersey," said Meyer. "We did need to consolidate some titles."
She said The Record and the Suburban Trends, the company's daily and twice weekly subscription newspapers respectively, will continue to cover news in towns previously covered by the weeklies.
AIM history According to Ann Genader, who worked for the AIM from the beginning, Joe Deerie started AIM in the 1980s to provide an advertising vehicle for local businesses to grow. He began circulating in Oak Ridge, and over time expanded the news coverage and circulation to Newfoundland and other areas. Deerie eventually sold Aim Community News to the Borg Family, which also published the Bergen Record.
In commenting on the closure of the AIM paper, Jeanne Straus, president of Straus News and publisher of the West Milford Messenger, said, “We are sorry to see AIM close. Their being on the scene alongside us helped keep us on our toes. More inquiring reporters out on the beat, covering town meetings and asking questions, are good for our community and our country.”
Genader, though, won't be retiring her notebook. Instead, she will be reporting on events around town for the West Milford Messenger.