The Star-Ledger is reporting that "the revenue situation at our newspaper has worsened this year, and we expect a further significant revenue decline next year."  In a memorandum to full-time employees, publisher George Arwady announced another "voluntary buyout offer" as the newspaper seeks to reduce their staff "by at least fifty people."

Click here to read Arwady's memo.

The Star-Ledger endorsement of independent Christopher Daggett could violate state regulations that prohibit debate sponsors from endorsing candidates before the completion of the debate.  In their application to sponsor the October 16 gubernatorial debate, the Star-Ledger agreed to not endorse a candidate for Governor until after the debate was over.

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), in their published regulations on gubernatorial debate sponsorship (N.J.A.C. 19:25-15.50) states that "to be eligible for selection by the Commission to sponsor one or both of the gubernatorial general election debates, an organization... must not have endorsed any candidate in the pending general election for the office of Governor and must agree not to make any such endorsement until the completion of any debate sponsored by the organization."

Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, Republican Christopher Christie and Daggett are set to debate on Friday at William Paterson University.  The debate will be streamed live on FoxNews.com, and aired on Saturday on WXTF-TV Channel 29 in Philadelphia and on Sunday on WOR-TV in New York.  The Star-Ledger, The Record and the Herald News, which all share content on state politics, are also sponsors.

The Star-Ledger and The Record announced today that they are combining their statehouse bureaus, calling the new team of reporters “the largest in the nation” for a state capital.

Both papers, known to compete fiercely for scoops, have hit tough times with the economic downturn, and have recently taken cost saving measures from buying out 40% of newsroom staff in the Ledger’s case to closing newsrooms and making reporters go mobile at The Record.  

“At a time when newspapers have had to cut back news staffs, this cooperation allows us to pool resources and better serve all our readers,” Jim Willse, editor of The Star Ledger, in a press release.

Combined, the two papers will have a statehouse staff of 11.

In an interview with the American Journalism Review, Star-Ledger editor Jim Willse says he's not sure he'll replace Washington,D.C.-based reporters Scott Orr and Robert Cohen, who both took buyouts. 

"Frankly, the delegation doesn't produce enough news to keep two reporters busy," Willse told AJR editor Jennifer Dorroh about the fifteen New Jerseyans who serve in Congress.

Here's the New Jersey section in the AJR story:

After the entire Star-Ledger editorial board opted to accept the paper's buyout offer, John Farmer, a 26-year veteran of the paper, was tasked with rebuilding its editorial page. Farmer, who has 50 years experience in the industry, is a safe choice and offers a measure of steadiness which might be welcome during this period of turbulence and transition.

On the flip side, those qualities could be less than optimal while the news business struggles to adapt to a rapidly changing media environment.

Last week, Star-Ledger reporter Kelly Heyboer conducted a video interview with the new editorial page editor on his first day on the job. The most interesting exchange came when Heyboer mentioned that "people can go on the Internet to get their opinions, to express their opinions," and asked Farmer how he felt about the fact that "a lot of people say there's no need for a newspaper editorial board or opinion pages anymore."

The NJ Voices interview with John Farmer, the new Editorial Page editor of the Star-Ledger, is a must-read for the New Jersey political community.  Farmer says he’s an Independent (a political “agnostic”) who voted for George W. Bush in 2000 “because I don't believe in giving any one party more than eight years in office.”

On the Star-Ledger’s political leanings:

“The editorials over the past eight years have been largely liberal.  But that's as much a function of events as it is of any internal inclination of the paper.  Largely, it's been a reaction to the record of the Bush administration. He hasn't given us much to cheer. We supported him quite enthusiastically after 9/11. But as the record of the Bush administration has unfolded, we've been pretty critical.”

On newspapers competing with the Internet:

The Star-Ledger won’t be administering a polygraph test any time soon.

Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce had said that he would take a lie detector test to verify his account of an argument in which he alleged that Senate President Dick Codey tried to warn him off of pursuing details about a legislative slush fund through a mix of threats and temptations with state funds.

But since Codey has refused to take the test, DeCroce told the paper that he would not agree to take it either. 

An e-mail from Star-Ledger Deputy Editor Tom Curran listing the reporters who will remain in the newspaper following the buyouts:

From: CURRAN, THOMAS
Sent: Fri 10/31/2008 4:41 PM
To: ~ EDITORIAL "ALL"
Subject: Who's staying

Many of you asked for a list of people who are staying at The Ledger.

Here it is:

Veteran reporter Jeff Whelan, who was part of the Star-Ledger's team that won the Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of Gov. James E. McGreevey's resignation, will leave the newspaper this week as part of the newspaper's buyout program.  Whelan, along with Josh Margolin, was a statehouse reporter until moving to cover the U.S. Attorney's office last year.