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Digital First Media has placed the top bid of $11.9 million to purchase the Boston Herald in a bankruptcy auction. The bid must be approved by a bankruptcy court judge before the deal can go through, with a hearing scheduled for Friday. The Herald filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 8. Denver-based Digital First, also known as MediaNews Group, owns publications across the country, from the Orange County Register in Anaheim, CA, to the Lowell Sun and Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise in Massachusetts. According to a report in the New York Post, job cuts at the Herald are likely. The paper’s current employee headcount is approximately 240, and previous bidders have indicated that they would move that number closer to 175.
 Nicole Carroll |
USA TODAY has named Nicole Carroll editor-in-chief, effective in March. Carroll joins USA TODAY from the Arizona Republic, where she was editor and VP-news. She has also been southwest regional editor for the USA TODAY Network since 2016. Carroll joined the Republic in 1999, and has held positions at the paper ranging from city editor to planning editor to managing editor for features. She received The National Press Foundation’s 2017 Benjamin C. Bradlee “Editor of the Year” award and in the last six years the Republic/azcentral.com has twice been named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News. In January, she was elected to the board of the American Society of News Editors.
 Alex Treadway |
Alex Treadway, who was managing director for strategic client services at Atlantic Media’s National Journal from 1999-2009, is returning to the company as associate publisher for Route Fifty, Government Executive Media Group’s digital publication connecting state and local government officials. Treadway joins Route Fifty from conservative website The Daily Caller, where he most recently was chief revenue officer. He has also served as vice president of leadership sales at the Washington Post. “Alex brings more than 20 years’ worth of high-level digital sales experience with him, which will prove invaluable to our clients as they look to engage state and local government decision-makers,” said GEMG chief executive officer Tim Hartman. Route Fifty saw significant growth in 2017, with a 13 percent hike in monthly unique visitors. The site’s database circulation has grown over 300 percent in the past 18 months, and revenue is up 23 percent year-over-year.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp. has replaced CEO and former California Congressman Devin Nunes with Kevin McGurn, a seasoned media sales executive.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is being bought by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, a nonprofit that is the parent organization of the Baltimore Banner... The British Broadcasting Corporation is axing approximately 2,000 jobs, about 10 percent of its work force... Snap, the company behind Snapchat, is also succumbing to layoff fever, announcing plans to lay off 16 percent of its employees, about 1,000 people.
CBS News Radio will go off the air on May 22, part of the axe-swinging managerial plan put into play by CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss... The Economist, which was first published in 1843, is changing hands. Canadian billionaire Stephen Smith has agreed to acquire a 26.9 percent stake in the publication from Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, her family and family foundation... Nexstar Media Group says it has closed its acquisition of TEGNA, the broadcast, digital media and marketing services company that was formed in 2015, when the Gannett Company split into two publicly traded companies.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
