 Justin Dearborn |
tronc CEO Justin Dearborn replaced Michael Ferro on March 19 as chairman just ahead of a Fortune story alleging inappropriate sexual behavior. Dearborn, who was appointed CEO of tronc in February 2016, was previously CEO of Merge Healthcare, which was acquired by IBM in October 2015 for $1B. The online Fortune story accused Ferro of abusive conduct toward two women when he led a Chicago investment firm. The executive changes come as tronc prepares to close on the $500 million sale of the Los Angeles Times to local ownership. In February, the company agreed to sell the paper, along with the San Diego Union-Tribune and various titles in the California News Group, to Nant Capital, LLC, a private investment vehicle of California-based entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.
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Digital First Media has completed its acquisition of the Boston Herald. Last month, Digital First placed the winning bid of almost $12 million for the paper in a bankruptcy auction, beating out GateHouse Media, which owns the Providence Journal in addition to more than 140 other daily papers. But GateHouse still stands to profit from the deal. Following its sale to Digital First, the Herald will move its printing business from the Boston Globe’s facilities to the Journal’s presses. The move deprives the Globe of one of its biggest contract printing customers and follows a series of technical glitches at its $75 million printing plant in Taunton, Mass., which opened last year.
 Rebecca Rosen |
The Atlantic has introduced a Family section at TheAtlantic.com. The Atlantic’s focus on family will include stories in the magazine, video, a weekly newsletter and live events. Led by Atlantic editor Rebecca Rosen, Family is the first expanded editorial initiative to launch following the announcement last month that The Atlantic is embarking on significant newsroom growth in 2018. The company says that additional areas of increased editorial focus include expanded coverage of Hollywood and culture, as well as of technology and Silicon Valley; a new Ideas section; and additions to its politics and policy reporting staff in Washington. Morgan Stanley is the exclusive underwriter of The Atlantic’s new Family initiative.
Underscore Media, a new creator-led media venture dedicated to New York sports, is built around three established New York sports personalities, Sal Licata, Jimmy Traina, and John Jastremski.
McClatchy, which owns 29 daily papers across 14 states (including The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star), launches a wave of layoffs that extends to at least 13 of those papers... The Toledo Blade, which was founded in 1835, is set to shut down on Dec. 31, unless owner Block Communications manages to find a buyer for it... A bill awaiting approval by California governor Gavin Newsom would give local newsrooms a boost. 
Fox News Media issued a pretty sparse release to announce the departure of one of its stars. “Effective today, Maria Bartiromo is no longer with FOX News Media,” it reads.
Brunswick Group partner John Simons has joined CNN as senior director of business & media. He held top jobs at Time and the Wall Street Journal.
WNET, the nation’s largest public media company, names Edward O’Keefe its next president and CEO, effective September 21. O’Keefe succeeds Neal Shapiro, who becomes president emeritus and will retire at the end of the year... The Stealth Bot Prohibition Act, which would empower news publishers and other content providers to defend themselves by mandating transparency for all bots crawling their sites, in introduced in the House by Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL) and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC)... Google gets socked by European Union regulators with a $1 billion fine for using the platform’s dominance as a search engine to illegally undercut competition.
