Gannett

Gatehouse Media has kicked off the up to $300 million in “synergies” it expects to reap from its merger with Gannett by letting go of more than two dozen newsroom staffers, according to a report from Associated Press. Papers hit by the layoffs include the Providence Journal and the Oklahoman, the report says. GateHouse borrowed $1.8 billion from private equity firm Apollo at a high-interest rate to close the Gannett deal, and it also expects the dividend it pays shareholders to rise, so it is looking to cut costs. Michael Reed, the CEO of Gatehouse owner New Media Investment Group, said that the savings would mostly come from consolidating such functions as finance, sales, digital services and tech, but did not mention editorial staffers.

Folio

Overall salaries for magazine editors are holding steady, but the gender gap in the field still stubbornly persists, according to Folio’s annual salary survey, which was released Aug. 27. The study found that female editors-in-chief received an average base salary of $82,500 annually, while their male counterparts were paid an average of $100,000. At the associate editor level, the disparity is even more pronounced, with women being paid about 76 percent as much ($54,000 per year) as men ($70,500). Another gap exists between print and digital publishing, with editors-in-chief at print-only publications receiving an average annual base salary of $80,000, while those at publications that operate across both print and digital platforms averaged $92,000 and those at digital-only publications averaged $120,000. Folio based its results on a survey of 255 editors (half EICs, half associate and managing editors) from across the U.S. in May.

The Atlantic

The paywall that came down at The Atlantic 10 years ago appears to be going back up. Atlantic president Bob Cohn told the Wall Street Journal that the publication will launch a metered paywall in January. Readers will be able to access 10 articles per month for free, after which they will need to pay for access. “We’re looking around and seeing peers who we respect getting people to pay for their digital content,” Cohn said. Laurene Powell Jobs, who acquired a majority stake in the publication in 2017, postponed the previously announced paywall, focusing on beefing up the headcount and content before asking readers to pay up. While The Atlantic website currently offers a digital subscription at $29.50 per year, the final price, once the paywall has been erected, is yet to be determined.