PRINCETON: Kilgore to retain ownership of Packet Media Group

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   Packet Media Group publisher James B. Kilgore has announced that his newspaper, magazine and Internet chain is no longer for sale.
   ”This company is very much a part of my family and there is still much to do here to get back on a path of growth while continuing to provide the vital community service we provide to readers and advertisers be it in print or digital format,” he wrote in a memo to employees informing them of the decision.
   ”I love the business. It’s still very challenging,” said Mr. Kilgore in an interview Monday.
   Asked about the future of the company, he said: “We’re continuing to try to move forward after the very stressful economic conditions we’ve been through. And it’s still not great out there.”
   Amid competition from other print and digital media outlets, Mr. Kilgore discussed efforts to increase readership and cited the need to do more in putting news online. He also expressed confidence in the company’s sales leadership.
   ”I think you’ve got to be smart, you’ve got work harder, you’ve got to listen to your advertisers and your readers,” he said.
   Mr. Kilgore has been in the journalism business for the past 37 years, working his way up from a reporter for a Gannett-owned paper in Yonkers, N.Y., to today leading a news organization that serves more than 40 towns in seven counties.
   The Packet Media Group, headquartered on Witherspoon Street, employs about 100 people and publishes 11 paid weekly newspapers, seven free papers and a magazine. The company has been in the Kilgore family since 1955, when the publisher’s father, Barney, the late managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, bought the Princeton Packet.
   But in November, Mr. Kilgore, 64, announced he was planning to retire and putting the company up for sale. He also disclosed that he had had a health scare.
   At the time of his announcement, he expressed his preference to sell to a local buyer.
   ”We had some offers, and I just said, ‘You know, this is not really what I want to do at the time,’ “ said Mr. Kilgore.