New Packet Publisher Purchases, Then Shuts Down the Princeton Sun

The Packet survived the merger with The Princeton Sun, but will be moving to another building because the Packet headquarters has been sold.
The Packet survived the merger with The Princeton Sun, but will be moving to another building because the Packet headquarters has been sold.

The last edition of the Princeton Sun weekly community newspaper was published last week. The free weekly was distributed in Princeton and was mailed to every household. Previously there was a Lawrence edition that was shut down.

Newspaper Media Group bought The Princeton Sun as part of its purchase of Elauwit Media this summer. The company also bought Packet Media in July as part of its purchase of Broad Street Media. People who follow local media had speculated about whether both newspapers would survive, and if not, which newspaper would fold. The Princeton Packet newspaper survived the merger, but the Sun did not.

Newspaper Media Group is owned by Richard Donnelly, CEO of Donnelly Distribution, a circular company based in Pennsauken. He was an investor in a group that bought Broad Street Media, which then purchased the Packet in the spring. He then bought Broad Street Media and Packet Media in the summer. Former Packet Publisher James Kilgore still owns a 25-percent stake in the new media company that operates the Packet. Kilgore is now a consultant to the company, and has sold the Packet properties on Witherspoon Street to a Princeton resident.

Broad Street Media filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 31. Packet Media was formed as a separate company operated by the same owner, and is not part of the bankruptcy.

2 Comments

  1. What a shame. The sun was such a much better steward of the community’s interests and a better reflection of Princeton.

  2. How much did they pay for the Sun? What were the Sun’s revenues compared to the Packet’s? How do those compare to the Town Topics?

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