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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.
Michael Kaminer, who was responsible for the Observer’s “Power List” for the past 13 years, has cut ties with the publication... The New York Times Company continues the march toward its goal of 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027... The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is providing more than $6 million in funding to eight organizations working to address the challenges local news and information environments face along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Conservative outlets Fox News, Newsmax and the Daily Caller are holding back from signing Pete Hegseth’s edict restricting press access in the Pentagon... CBS News sees the first executive departure of the Bari Weiss era as head of standards and practices Claudia Milne exits... Indiana University shuts down the print version of The Indiana Daily Student.
Rothschild family plans to unload 26.7 percent stake in The Economist... STAT, a digital media company that focuses the life sciences, brings back Damian Garde, who anchored its biotech newsletter and podcast from 2016 to 2024... High Times officially resumes print publication (following its 2024 shutdown) with the release of a limited-edition, collectible 50th anniversary issue. 
CBS News is set to hand over its reins to The Free Press co-founder Bari Weiss as Paramount acquires her site for $155M... C-SPAN comes on board as an official media partner of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, which is charged by Congress to lead the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence... A new Gallup survey says that the level of trust that US audiences have in the media has hit a new low.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has named Kenneth Weinstein, former head of the conservative Hudson Institute, as ombudsman for CBS News.
