Mike Gebhart, who has served as COO and executive vice president of Southern Community Newspapers Inc. since November 2007, has purchased a majority share in the company's properties.  This includes the Albany (Ga.) Herald, plus Gwinnett, Conyers, Newton, Clayton, Henry, and Butts County newspapers and multiple digital sites that currently make up the Southern Community Newspapers family of publications. more

"We thank you," the ad read, "for your dedication to providing our community, local businesses and charities with up-to-date news and resources as we strive to support one another during this challenging time.  Let's stay together and stay strong!" more

Publication of the News-Sentinel page for Fort Wayne, Indiana, has been suspended by Fort Wayne Newspapers, a move it said was necessitated by the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. more

Lee Walls, president and CEO of Walls Newspapers and owner of The Bolivar Commercial, said: “It is a sad thing to have to announce, and it is something I’ve spent years and a great deal of money, trying to avoid.” more

The coronavirus pandemic has uprooted all of us, forcing businesses to close and hundreds of layoffs. In the first week of April, more than 6 million Americans filed for unemployment, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Nu Yang, editor-in-chief of Editor & Publisher, spoke with several news leaders about this fallout. This is what they shared. more

McClatchy has launched a text-to-speech audio feature that will offer readers the option to listen to news content produced by its 30 newsrooms across the country. This is part of McClatchy's strategy in the audio space, which includes initiatives in smart speakers, audio search and podcasts. McClatchy is the first local news media company with a national reach to launch text-to-speech technology.  more

In remarks delivered yesterday during a Kindred livestream panel, McClatchy CEO Craig Forman talked about the advantages of advertisers using local news brands to promote their products and messages.  "News isn't monolithic," he said. "We have to dispel the notion that news is this vast bucket and it's all the same … We have a powerful platform that allows national advertisers to connect with local audiences." more

All newspapers are invited to download and publish this editorial cartoon, created by Rob Tornoe for America's Newspapers, in honor of World Press Freedom Day. more

America's Newspapers appreciates the efforts extended by members to reach out to their congressional leaders to encourage the expansion of the Payroll Protection Program to include local news sources and to re-direct dollars for advertising spends to local news providers.  Your voices are being heard!

A letter signed by 124 Democrats and Republicans advocating for new federal funding to support local news was sent April 29 to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. It pushes to protect local news publishers and broadcasters in the next COVID-19 relief package. more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP has published a "Return to Business and Post-Pandemic Planning Checklist" to help companies prepare for the  business impacts arising from COVID-19 and as business begins to reopen. Read more and download the checklist more

Axios, which qualified for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan to avoid layoffs, is returning the money, after nearing a deal for an alternative source of capital, Jim VandeHei, co-founder and CEO has announced. more

America's Newspapers is putting together a collection of welcome letters used by members to send to new subscribers. Send a copy of yours to cdurham@newspapers.org and we'll share the full collection with you. more

This stubborn fact faces the growing movement to save local journalism: the majority of grants and other aid may need to flow to newspapers, rather than other news media, because they deliver the majority of the news in local information ecosystems. For a 2018 report, Duke University researchers set out to document how local original news is generated and were startled to discover that while newspapers were just 25% of local news outlets, they produced more original local civic content than radio, TV and online newsrooms combined. more

Newsroom employment in the United States dropped by 23% between 2008 and 2019, according to one of 10 charts released today by the Pew Research Center on the state of newsroom employment in the United States. The information was based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau and other sources. more

Audrey Harvin, managing editor of the Burlington County Times in Willingboro, New Jersey, has been named executive editor of the paper, as well as the Courier Post in Cherry Hill and the Daily Journal in Vineland. more

Veteran journalist Sherry Jones has been named executive editor for Gannett’s eastern region of North Carolina, overseeing the Wilmington StarNews, the Fayetteville Observer, the Jacksonville Daily News, the New Bern Sun Journal and the Kinston Free Press. more

The top editor for the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester, Massachusetts, has been promoted to also oversee the newspaper's sister outlets in Framingham, Milford and Gardner. more

Greetings from my home office in Lakewood, Colorado.   Like many of you, I am working from home during the coronavirus pandemic.  With 25 years of sales leadership experience in the media industry, I understand trying to keep as much revenue as possible right now is the most important thing to you.  I want to share some innovative ways to generate revenue to share with your advertisers during a time where most have been doing a dead-stop on all advertising. more

Cox Enterprises recently donated 6,000 disposable coveralls to Piedmont and Emory Healthcare. Six pallets of Cox Automotive coveralls typically used by workers at its auctions and by RideKleen were delivered to the hospitals.   more

In a rare production move in an industry that long ago switched massively to morning publication, the Montrose (Colorado) Daily Press is converting to an afternoon newspaper beginning May 5. more