Paton, formerly CEO of ImpreMedia, initiated this change on February 1, 2010, by announcing he would provide all reporters with Flip video cameras as a sign of his commitment to the company's digital transformation.

The company owned daily and weekly newspapers, other print media properties and newspaper-affiliated local Web sites in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

In early 2007, JRC completed the sales of its former Massachusetts and Rhode Island newspapers to GateHouse Media and RISN Operations, respectively.

On March 17, 2010, the company named an advisory board composed of Jeff Jarvis (author of "What Would Google Do" and BuzzMachine); Jay Rosen of New York University, and Emily Bell, the director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University.

Bairstow joined Journal Register after working for Synarc Inc., a leading provider of medical imaging analysis, subject-recruitment and biochemical-marker services.

On September 5, 2012, Digital First Media, parent company of JRC, confirmed the group had again filed for bankruptcy protection.