NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- Lawmakers are fighting to save jobs at local newspapers in Connecticut.

State lawmakers met with the economic development commissioner Friday to discuss the fate of the New Britain Herald and Bristol Press newspapers.

The papers' owner said the papers will be forced to close unless a buyer is found in the next month.

Reporter Adam Benson was one of about 100 employees of the Journal Register Co. who stand to lose their jobs if the Bristol Press and New Britain Herald are shut down next month.

“We're journalists,” Benson said. “We're community journalists. We don't do this job because the money's great. We don't do this job to see our name in the paper. We really feel strongly about preserving the daily history of these two communities, and these are two institutions that were known throughout the state as being tenacious watchdog institutions.”

Journal Register Co. has said the Press, the Herald and several weeklies will close on Jan. 12 if a buyer cannot be found. Friday, economic development officials met with lawmakers from the two communities to update them on the search for a buyer.

“First and foremost, there will not be a bailout of the existing paper,” said Joan McDonald, with the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. “We are not in that business.”

But there was good news Friday, including interest from some prospective buyers. Officials said they're guardedly optimistic as they offer help to anyone who will buy the papers, just as they do with any troubled industry.

“We have a full array of programs, whether it’s low-interest loans, job training,” McDonald said. “We will work with any prospective buyer to save these newspapers.”

“For those of us who would like to see these papers sustained, I think I'm more positive today than I was a week ago,” Sen. Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain, said. “I think we've seen some progress.”

“I feel encouraged, but I take nothing for granted,” Rep. Frank Nicastro, D-Bristol, said. “But I feel better than I did going in there.”

The deadline is looming for when the papers could be shut down, officials said, so the group plans to meet again in 10 days to see if there's anything new and if there's any action they should take.

Both daily newspapers date back to the late 1800s. Journal Register also owns the New Haven Register, The Middletown Press, The Register Citizen of Torrington, 17 weekly newspapers in Connecticut and Connecticut Magazine.