The parent of the Los Angeles Times is buying the San Diego Union-Tribune and nine community papers from a San Diego real estate investor for cash and stock worth $85M.
Tribune publishing chief Jack Griffin said the deal "represents another step forward in our strategy to leverage our publishing infrastructure, resources and management teams.”
The company has formed the California News Group to manage its holdings in the Golden State's first and second largest cities.
LAT publisher Austin Beutner will serve as CEO of CNG and publisher of the two newspaper flagships.
He promised editorial independence for the San Diego paper and expects the paper will continue to provide "an authentic voice that reflects the diversity of the state and the distinct values of our communities.”
The community papers involved in the transaction as Carmel Valley News, Encinitas Advocate, La Jolla Light, Rancho Bernardo News Journal, Rancho Santa Fe Review, Solana Beach Sun, Del Mar Times, Poway News Chieftain and Ramona Sentinel.
The U-T, which was founded in 1868, had a Sunday circulation of 271,564 during the first-quarter.
Circulation ranged from 169,484 to 222,479 for the rest of the week.
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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