Sports Editor George Ferguson has become publisher of the Havre (Montana) Daily News, taking over for Stacy Mantle, who held the position until she left the newspaper last Friday after 20 years with the paper.  Ferguson also will continue in his role as sports editor. more

The building and parking lot of the Courier-Tribune in Asheboro, North Carolina, went on the market Feb. 1. Gannett said a new location for the Courier-Tribune will be determined soon. more

“Local journalism serves a vital role in our communities,” says the recently appointed executive editor of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. “We want to support those communities, inform and even entertain our readers, be a place for open, honest, truthful debate, hold accountable those in power and be a voice for those who are often overlooked.” more

January 29, 2012 - A West Virginia newspaper company filed a federal antitrust lawsuit today against Google and Facebook charging the internet giants with monopolizing the digital advertising market. This is believed to be the first lawsuit of its kind filed by a newspaper company against the tech giants for their monopolistic practices.

Owner of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette-Mail, The (Huntington) Herald-Dispatch and a half-dozen weekly newspapers, HD Media LLC filed a 42-page complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. HD Media claims Google has monopolized the digital advertising market to such an extent that Google has been enabled to extract a supracompetitive share of HD Media’s advertising revenues, harming the company’s ability to effectively monetize its content. The complaint also alleges that Google and Facebook violated antitrust laws by conspiring to further their worldwide dominance of the digital advertising market, entering into a secret agreement codenamed “Jedi Blue” to manipulate online auctions. more

The Corporation for New Jersey Local Media, a nonprofit dedicated to building strong communities through journalism and civic engagement, has announced a landmark agreement with the New Jersey Hills Media Group to work together to convert the group’s 14 weekly newspapers in Morris, Somerset, Essex and Hunterdon counties to non-profit ownership. more

Jonathan Stefonek has been named managing editor for the DeForest Times-Tribune in Waunakee, Wisconsin. more

USALegalNotice.com provides direct access to 47 public notice websites from across the country, each of which is operated by state newspaper associations. more

Lee Enterprises Group Publisher Bill Masterson has been selected as president and publisher of the Rapid City Journal in Rapid City, South Dakota, and Lee group publisher. Masterson succeeds Matthew Tranquill, who was named general manager and director of local advertising sales of the Morning News in Florence, South Carolina. more

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated has announced that Rapid City Journal President and Director of Local Advertising Sales Matthew Tranquill has been named general manager and director of local advertising sales for the Morning News in Florence, South Carolina. Former publisher Bailey Dabney has left the company. more

Presented by Kia, the annual program will measure sentiment around this year’s Super Bowl commercials and offer additional analysis with new Replay Rating feature sponsored by Verizon. more

Cox Enterprises has promoted Tiffanie McDonald to vice president of inclusion and diversity. In her new role, McDonald will lead the implementation of the company’s inclusion, diversity and equity strategy and will report directly to EVP and Chief People and Operations Officer Jill Campbell. more

The Boston Globe has announced a new program that will allow people to ask the newspaper to update or anonymize past coverage of them online. The “Fresh Start” initiative is part of a broader effort to rethink the Globe’s criminal justice coverage and how it affects communities of color, amid a national reckoning over racial inequity. more

"Return Man" is the first season in a new anthology of character-driven audio documentaries co-produced by iHeartRadio and McClatchy, called "Longshot." The series focuses exclusively on the intersection of sports and social change. more

Chadd Cripe, who has worked at the Idado Statesman for more than 24 years, has been named interim editor of the paper. more

Trevor Baratko has been named news editor of The Frederick (Maryland) News-Post to succeed Allen Etzler, who left the News-Post to work with the city of Frederick. more

The Seattle Times has announced the appointment of Brier Dudley as Free Press editor. He will cover the current local and national crisis in journalism, along with the efforts to preserve the independence and sustainability of the nation’s local free press system. more

In an opinion column published this week, Rob Williams, contributing editor with MediaPost, writes that the U.S. Supreme Court should repeal the newspaper-broadcast ownership ban, saying "the prohibition on cross-ownership was intended to prevent a single news source from dominating a community, but has become outdated with the rise of digital media." more

A long journalism career in New York and New Jersey, punctuated by historic local and national events and a newsroom Pulitzer Prize, have brought David Ng to The Providence (Rhode Island) Journal as the new executive editor. more

Todd Colling, general manager of the Beloit (Wisconsin) Daily News, is preparing for a homecoming of sorts as he takes on the new role of general manager of the Marinette EagleHerald and Antigo Daily Journal. more

Publisher Michael Moses is stepping down, and Shawn Palmer, who has a deep background in newspapers in Connecticut, has been named publisher of the Greenfield (Massachusetts) Recorder, Daily Hampshire Gazette and Athol Daily News. more