Still publishing daily, the Courier Post Newspaper’s iconic Cherry Hill headquarters building is now listed for sale, after printing operations were closed (relocated) last month.
Printing operations for the Courier-Post and it’s sister newspapers were relocated to other facilities owned by parent-company Gannett.
News of the intent to sell the property is from a public real estate listing, but kudos to the Philadelphia Business Journal for being the first to notice the listing and report on it.
The real estate listing indicates the entire 13-acre site is for sale which includes the 145,000 sq ft building and printing plant.
Photos that accompany the listing show the printing press equipment, conveyors and more still in place.
To that point the article references the property as “the Courier-Post Printing Plant”… but the reality is the building was much more than that.
The Cuthbert Boulevard building which sits between the Camden Catholic High School and the DMV inspection station, was for many decades the full headquarters of South Jersey’s number one, highest subscriber base, local newspaper… The Courier-Post
Decades ago when printed newspapers were the main source of local news, each day dozens of reporters and numerous editors, copywriters and photographers called the Cherry Hill building home… And of course a significant printing press operation was housed there which for many years also printed the Philadelphia Inquirer!
If you’ve ever seen a Hollywood movie representation of a newsroom with its large open space filled with desks and reporters, phones ringing and numerous conversations taking place… that’s what the Courier-Post Cherry Hill building and newsroom was like for decades!
Today the newsrooms and printing spaces of the almost 13 acre Cherry Hill property and building are silent and no longer needed by parent company Gannett.
The Courier-Post article in March which announced the (then pending) printing plant closure stated the Courier-Post reporters “will continue to cover the community from the Cherry Hill office, next to the press on Cuthbert Boulevard”. While I don’t firmly know the current newsroom status, I believe the remaining reporters work from home offices.
And in the process of last month’s printing plant closing, 140 printing and packaging employees in the Cherry Hill Building were impacted with the loss of their jobs.
It’s a stark contrast to what the Courier-Post once was…. or more so what local newspaper journalism once was throughout our country.
And that should concern people.
First off, it’s absolutely awful that people in the newspaper industry have lost their jobs. It’s also very telling to what’s become of Local News coverage in South Jersey and the USA.
Clearly the internet and smartphones have had a huge impact on how people receive news, and the need for South Jersey residents to purchase a daily newspaper or two… really has disappeared from most resident’s day-to-day lives and budgets.
And disappearing with that is the (previously) significant large printed newspaper advertising model which before the internet was THE way for a local business to advertise, and those revenue losses in turn impacts the number of reporters who can be paid to be on staff, covering local news.
But things where different 30, 20… even 10 years ago.
I’ve had several conversations with former Courier-Post employees who worked in the Cherry Hill office during the “pre-Internet” days of the 1980s and 90s… People who remember the reporter and related production staff (non-printing) numbers as being over 100 employees in the Cherry Hill building. (and yes design layout in 1988 likely required more staff than today)
The newsroom covered news at all levels… global and national of course, but the real pride for any local suburban newspaper was in the depth of local coverage.
I have a subscription to Newspapers.com which archives 100s of newspapers and it’s clear to me that for many decades before the internet era, it was very common for a Courier-Post reporter to be sitting in important town meetings, writing the details of the latest decision in Cherry Hill, Gloucester Township… well every town in South Jersey.
A random Courier-Post edition from Tuesday Oct 18, 1988 has over two dozen South Jersey focused news articles and snippets. Today the local news stories are likely to be a quarter of that amount.
And I don’t want to make enemies with the current reporters! I realize the daunting challenge they face in covering a larger South Jersey area with significantly fewer staff members. The Courier-Post team is working hard!
In 2024, as far as I can see the combined reporter staff for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and Vineland Daily Journal is likely half a dozen reporters across three newspapers.
And yes, I realize reporters do still make it to some town meetings.
But previously newspapers like the Courier-Post, Gloucester County Times, Burlington County Times… had enough staff to send reporters to many more significant town meetings, or at least have the staffing to be in touch with local town clerks for updates… all to cover our local government’s efforts and keep a watchful eye over things.. with decisions and topics getting reported to the public.
Today there is a growing void in local news coverage. Many times I attend a board meeting for 42Freeway website and I am the only person there!
Compare that to 1973 when an editorial article in the Courier-Post by then editor Thomas Flynn, proudly describes the massive effort that went into covering the 1973 June local and State primary elections.
Flynn describes how they had a staff of 30 reporters and photographers covering the local and state primary election night activities. In addition they had 7 editors and copyreaders supervising all of the activities… with many of them replaced by fresh personnel the next morning.
When all the numbers were completed from that night of effort the Courier-Post had written 47 columns and editorials just for the primary elections (local and state)!
And all of that did not include the Burlington County Times or Vineland Daily Journal papers. That was just the original Cherry Hill Courier-Post.
In that commentary article, editor Flynn raised a question which he then answered…
“we believe it’s that important that the readers have as much information as possible about the elections and the officials who will run our government at all levels in the coming years”
Thomas Flynn: Courier-Post Editor 1973
So a few things to call out about that 50 year old example… first this was also during the Watergate scandal when corruption was found at the highest level so there was likely an extra added push to cover the primaries.
And yes I realize today there are news services such as Reuters and The Associated Press which cover the larger news stories (which local papers can then publish)
But my point is…. while there has been a decades long slow decline in journalist number, the advent of the internet and smartphones has had a significant negative impact on newspapers in the last 10-15 years. A reduction in both the number of reporters “pounding the pavement”, as well as a reduction in the numbers of operating newspapers.
The online listing for the sale of the Courier-Post building shows an empty open newsroom space with ripped up carpets and a pile of desks in the center.
A short lived blog website by a Rowan journalism student in 2012 shows that same newsroom filled with desk and reporters twelve years ago.
Two years later in 2014 the Courier-Post published a fun video clip of when a bird snuck into the Newsroom, darting over top of desks and reporters in a lively newsroom.
And then two more years later in 2016 an article describes the relocation of the main newsroom, as the staff was being moved to another portion of the building… with phones ringing, and inappropriate jokes being made by journalist who enjoyed each other’s company and learning from each other, as much as the work itself.
But it seems today things have significantly changed as local news is more likely to emanate from home offices converted out of third bedrooms…with much fewer staff members, and at a much lower throughput of stories than before.
It’s not all doom and gloom. Today new sources of local news have appeared such as the Sun Newspapers or even my own 42Freeway.com
The Sun Newspaper family of newspapers for example have 18 different town-oriented editions. While the printed version is weekly, they regularly update the website with more timely news including Council Meeting updates, town “Night Out” festivity recaps and more.
Which is wonderful!
But as OPRA Open-Government rules are facing pressure possibly making it harder to access government information, and newspaper journalist numbers are dwindling (as well as the number of newspapers)… are we seeing the lights dim on our local news coverage and our unbiased government watchdogs?
Maybe we are already in the dark.
Links and Location
Courier-Post Printing Plant and Offices
301 Cuthbert Boulevard
Cherry Hill NJ