21st Century Media was an American media company. It was the successor of Ingersoll Publications and Journal Register Company, and it was succeeded by

Digital First Media MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

. The company operated more than 350 multi-platform products in 992 communities. On April 5, 2013, the assets of Journal Register Company and its affiliates were sold to 21st CMH Acquisition Co. The Journal Register Company then became known as 21st Century Media. The company was led by CEO John Paton. He argued that the Journal Register needed to transform from a newspaper company to a "digital first, print last" company. Paton, formerly CEO of

ImpreMedia ImpreMedia, LLC is a media company headquartered on the 7th Floor of 15 MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City. ImpreMedia's products include Hispanic newspapers, websites, and magazines."Company Overview of ImpreMedia, LLC", Bloombe ...

, initiated this change on February 1, 2010, by announcing he would provide all reporters with Flip video cameras as a sign of his commitment to the company's digital transformation. In 2013,

MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

and 21st Century Media merged into

. Digital First Media is owned by

Alden Global Capital Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith, and is a division of Smith Management LLC. Its managing director is Heath Freeman. By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two ...

Properties

The company owned daily and

weekly newspaper Weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspap ...

s, other print media properties and newspaper-affiliated local Web sites in the U.S. states of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, New York,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. It also operated 3 commercial printing facilities. 21st Century Media's flagship

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

was the ''New Haven Register''. Its ten largest daily newspapers (approximate daily circulation over 20,000) were: * ''

New Haven Register The ''New Haven Register'' is a daily newspaper published in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The Register's main office is located at 100 Gando Drive in New Haven. The ''Register'' was established about 1812 and i ...

'' of

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

(76,664) * ''

The Oakland Press ''The Oakland Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Oakland County, Michigan with headquarters in Troy. It is owned by 21st Century Media, with which its parent company merged in 2013 after filing for bankruptcy. The local historical society ...

'' of

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...

(63,174) * '' Delaware County Daily and Sunday Times'' of

Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a Home Rule Municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule Township (Pennsylvania), township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the township had a total popul ...

(43,520) * ''

The Macomb Daily ''The Macomb Daily'' is a daily newspaper with its headquarters in Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan, Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan, United States, in Metro Detroit. It is the only daily newspaper serving Macomb County, makin ...

'' of

Mount Clemens, Michigan Mount Clemens is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,697 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat, seat of government of Macomb County, Michigan, Macomb County and part of the Metro Detroit, Det ...

(42,045) * ''

The Trentonian ''The Trentonian'' is a daily newspaper serving Trenton, New Jersey, USA, and the surrounding Mercer County community. The paper in 2020 has a daily circulation of under 8,000 and a Sunday circulation of under 7,000. As of August 2020, it was r ...

'' of

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

(Sunday: 26,500) * ''

The News-Herald (Ohio) ''The News-Herald'' is a newspaper distributed in the northeastern portion of Greater Cleveland, Ohio, United States, serving Lake and Geauga Counties as well as a section of eastern Cuyahoga County. History The ''News-Herald'' began as the ...

'' of

Willoughby, Ohio Willoughby is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, along the Chagrin River. The population was 23,959 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Greater Cleveland, Cleveland metropol ...

(39,453) * '' The Daily Local News'' of

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,671 at the 2020 census. West ...

(27,087) * '' The Morning Journal'' of

Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located in Northeast Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River (Ohio), Black River about west of Cleveland. It is the List of cities in Ohio, ninth-most populous city in O ...

(26,777) * ''The Mercury (Pennsylvania)'' of

Pottstown, Pennsylvania Pottstown is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Pottstown was laid out in 1752–53 and named Pottsgrove in honor of its founder, John Potts (Pennsylvanian), John Potts. The old name was abando ...

(21,080) * ''

Daily Freeman The Daily Freeman, published in Kingston, New York, serves as the primary morning newspaper for Ulster County, as well as Greene County, Columbia County and Dutchess County. Established in 1871 under the moniker "Rondout Daily Freeman," the ...

'' of

Kingston, New York Kingston is the only Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in, and the county seat of, Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grou ...

(18,492)

History

In 2004, JRC bought 21st Century Newspapers, gaining ownership of several daily newspapers in Greater

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. In 2006, JRC bought the Web site JobsInTheUS.com. It is also a major shareholder in consulting company PowerOne Media. That same year, the company moved its headquarters to

Yardley, Pennsylvania Yardley is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. Yardley borders the Delaware River and Ewing Township, New Jersey to its east and Lower Makefield Township to its north, west, and south. The United States Post Office assigns ...

from

. In early 2007, JRC completed the sales of its former

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

newspapers to

GateHouse Media GateHouse Media Inc. was an American publisher of locally based print and digital media. It published 144 daily newspapers, 684 community publications, and over 569 local-market websites in 38 states. Its parent company, New Media Investment Group ...

and

RISN Operations RISN Operations Inc., also called Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers, is a privately owned publisher of three daily newspapers and several weekly newspapers in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The company was founded by Illinois-based newspaper exe ...

, respectively. In early 2008, the New York Stock Exchange announced it was planning to suspend trading of JRC's common stock. The stock had been below $1.05 for 30 consecutive days, at one point falling to 16 cents, which was the all-time low at that time. The stock was delisted as of April 16. On February 21, 2009, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court, located in Manhattan,

New York, NY New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

. On August 12, 2009, JRC emerged from bankruptcy as a private company. On March 17, 2010, the company named an advisory board composed of

Jeff Jarvis Jeff Jarvis (born July 15, 1954) is an American journalist, associate professor, Public Speaking, public speaker and former Television criticism, television critic. He advocates the Open Web and argues that there are many social and personal bene ...

(author of "What Would

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

Do" and BuzzMachine); Jay Rosen of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, and Emily Bell, the director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. On March 11, 2010, the company named Bill Higginson, Journal Register's former Senior Vice President, Production, as the company's president and COO. On March 4, 2010, the company named Jeff Bairstow as chief financial officer. Bairstow joined Journal Register after working for Synarc Inc., a leading provider of medical imaging analysis, subject-recruitment and biochemical-marker services. On September 5, 2012, Digital First Media, parent company of JRC, confirmed the group had again filed for bankruptcy protection. On April 5, 2013, the assets of Journal Register Company and its affiliates were sold to 21st CMH Acquisition Co., an affiliate of funds managed by

. The Journal Register Company then became known as 21st Century Media and continued to be managed by Digital First Media.

References

External links

Journal Register Company corporate web site
at the International Directory of Company Histories * {{Digital First Media Defunct newspaper companies of the United States Digital First Media Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania Companies based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania Publishing companies established in 1959 Companies disestablished in 2013 1959 establishments in Pennsylvania 2013 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Ingersoll family

Properties

History

References

Further reading

External links