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US: GateHouse, Gannett merger creates largest newspaper chain in the country

By  |  November 20, 2019

GateHouse closed its $1.1 billion takeover of USA Today publisher Gannett, becoming the country’s largest newspaper company, reported the New York Times. 

The merger brings together about 260 daily papers, including the Arizona Republic, the Providence Journal and the Austin American-Statesman, as well as hundreds of weeklies. Gannett publishes The York Dispatch and the York Daily Record.

In an interview with The Associated Press, executives of the combined company, which will keep the Gannett name, acknowledged there will be layoffs,  the company has committed to cutting $300 million in annual costs.

Current Gannett CEO Paul Bascobert said front-line reporters are “the last place we want to touch” when it comes to job cuts. He cited “duplication of management” and potential excess costs in financial, printing and advertising divisions as opportunities to reduce costs, and said the company will further centralize editing and newspaper and web design functions.

Full Content: New York Times

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