NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. ― Rutgers University’s athletic director told a class earlier this year that it would be “great” if New Jersey’s largest newspaper went out of business.
The university said in a statement that Julie Hermann’s remarks to a media ethics and law class in February came before she knew about deep layoffs at The Star-Ledger. The newspaper’s parent company, Advance Publications, announced a reorganization last week that will result in layoffs for 300 employees at its website and newspapers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including 170 at the Newark paper.
The Star-Ledger reported on her remarks Monday, citing a recording provided by a student.
“If they’re not writing headlines that are getting our attention, they’re not selling ads ― and they die,” Hermann said. “And the Ledger almost died in June, right?”
A student responded: “They might die again next month.”
“That would be great,” Hermann said. “I’m going to do all I can to not give them a headline to keep them alive.”
She also said one person at the newspaper has “one mission, that’s to get any AD at Rutgers fired.”
