ack during the not-so-distant glory days of New Jersey’s Star-Ledger reign as a regional newspaper powerhouse, the Newark, N.J., newsroom in the 2000s was bursting with 350 journalists who covered the entire state and pocketed Pulitzers for their coverage of local politicians. Back when Tony Soprano made Jersey mob cool, each week during the show’s opening the fictional wise guy paid homage to the daily by sauntering down his driveway to retrieve the Star-Ledger.

That’s now all a memory. Last week, the Star-Ledger’s owner announced massive layoffs at the newspaper as part of a larger effort at consolidation. Today, entire sections of the Newark newsroom sit empty; a newsroom that has shed an astonishing 240 jobs since 2008, or two-thirds of its former staff.

All this, at a time when the Star-Ledger’s detailed, hometown coverage of the unraveling scandals involving Gov. Chris Christie had become must-reads for journalists and news junkies alike.

Philadelphia columnist Will Bunch called last week’s Star-Ledger pink slips for reporters the “best news” of Christie’s career. Why? “With fewer of them on the beat, Christie — and all the other corrupt politicians of the Garden State — will be able to keep more of their secrets from the public […]