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McClatchy will help to fill in the gap being left behind by the closure of The Vindicator, Youngstown, Ohio’s daily newspaper. The paper is set to stop publishing on Aug. 31. The Compass Experiment, a joint initiative between McClatchy and Google with the aim of developing “essential and sustainable local digital news models,” says it will launch a digital news outlet in Youngstown this fall. The company will have a website as its main product and will experiment with publishing frequency and alternative projects. McClatchy will have full editorial control of the outlet, which it will own. In addition, ProPublica announced that it is opening up a spot in its Local Reporting Network for a local news organization to cover accountability issues in Youngstown. These moves are part of what appears to be a trend of tech companies, donors, regulators and advocacy groups that are working to address the growing number of “news deserts” in the U.S. According to a University of North Carolina study, between 1,300 and 1,400 communities that had newspapers of their own in 2004 now have no dedicated news coverage.
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Gannett and GateHouse Media, the two largest newspaper chains in the U.S. by circulation, are moving ahead with their plans to merge, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The report says that the companies are working to negotiate a cash-and-stock deal in which Fortress Investment Group, GateHouse’s parent company, would likely purchase Gannett, with GateHouse chief executive Mike Reed assuming control of the combined entity. GateHouse, which is known for slashing costs at the papers it acquires, currently owns nearly 700 papers, 156 of them dailies. In addition to USA Today, Gannett owns more than 100 daily papers and 1,000 weekly papers. Gannett recently spurned a takeover attempt by hedge fund-owned MNG Enterprises and is also said to have considered a deal with Tribune Publishing Co.
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Instagram is testing out a program that would keep users from seeing how many likes an individual post racks up. The New York Times says the experiment is currently underway in Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand. While users will still be able to see who else has liked a post, the tally of the total number of likes will not be available. The only exception: Users can still see like counts and video view counts for their own posts. The policy change is meant to create a less pressurized and competitive platform. “We want people to worry a little bit less about how many likes they’re getting on Instagram and spend a bit more time connecting with the people they care about,” head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said at an annual event for Facebook developers held in April.
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.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
