USA Today cuts staff, Lee Enterprises acquires four titles, Google explores AI publisher payments: Media News Recap for September

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of the biggest media stories from the past month.

 

 

September highlighted the continued transformation of the media industry. USA Today cut staff as it navigates a challenging business environment, while Lee Enterprises expanded its newspaper portfolio by acquiring four titles from the company. Business Insider also announced two new newsletters as publishers continue to explore new ways to reach audiences. Meanwhile, Google is reportedly exploring payments to publishers for content used in AI search results, and The Guardian is investing in training journalists in content creator skills. 

Here’s everything you need to know: 

USA Today cuts staff

USA Today is cutting staff and reorganizing its audience team after acknowledging that publishing more content no longer delivers the growth it once did. “Growing audience by producing more content isn’t as effective as it once was. Search traffic is under pressure,” USA Today senior vice president Monica Richardson said in an internal memo.  

The cuts also affected local newspapers owned by USA Today Co., formerly Gannett. The company has not disclosed how many positions were eliminated.  

USA Today will replace its existing Audience Team with a combined Audience and Digital Production Team covering publishing, priority content areas, search, social media and other platforms. The operation will have 23-30 people and use AI-assisted tools for SEO drafts, content tagging, briefings and social copy. (Search Engine Watch) 

Also making cuts: 

• Forbes cuts staff due to revenue shortfalls (Talking Biz News) 
• McClatchy makes deep cuts to newspapers around the country (New York Times) 
• Lee Enterprises cuts staff (Poynter) 
• Reach to cut editorial team by 160 jobs (Press Gazette) 
• CNBC shuts down Hong Kong office and cuts some shows (Talking Biz News) 
• Left-wing news site The Canary suspends operations (Press Gazette) 
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution eliminates five executive roles in leadership shakeup (TheWrap) 

Google reportedly tests paying publishers for AI search results

Google has launched a pilot program that pays publishers for their contributions to its AI-powered search features. The pilot program reportedly includes around 100 publishers and comes as Google faces scrutiny over the impact of its AI features on web traffic. (The Verge) 

Once a publisher joins the “AI contribution pilot,” they receive an extra AI earnings widget via their Search Console dashboard. This displays a monthly earnings number (with some history), though no other detailed information on how payouts are calculated currently. Payments are based more on value than raw usage, meaning Google only pays when it judges that a piece of content has meaningfully contributed to an AI-generated response. Publishers can opt out at any time. (Digiday) 

More AI-related news making headlines in September: 

• Condé Nast, Hearst push federal “bad bots” bill on AI scraping (Digiday) 
• OpenAI strikes first news deal in Canada (Axios) 
• Press Gazette launches newsroom tool to stop AI fakes before publication (Press Gazette) 
• Historic NYT v. OpenAI copyright battle heats up (Axios) 
• Seattle Times and Newsday sue OpenAI and Microsoft for infringement (The Verge) 
• What the New York Times looks for in AI licensing partnership (Digiday) 
• OpenAI doubles support for Lenfest’s AI and local news fellowships (NiemanLab) 
• Local Media Consortium launches AI Accelerator (Editor & Publisher) 

Lee Enterprises acquires four newspapers from USA Today

Lee Enterprises, publisher of more than 70 daily and 350 weekly and specialty publications serving 73 markets in 26 U.S. states, has acquired four newspapers from USA TODAY, Inc.  

The deal includes publications in South Dakota and Montana, including the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Aberdeen American News (including the Farm Forum), Watertown Public Opinion and Great Falls Tribune. 

At the same time, USA TODAY Co. will assume full ownership and operations of the Arizona Daily Star from Lee. Before this agreement, Lee Enterprises led the Arizona Daily Star’s newsroom, production and related technology operations, while USA TODAY Co. managed advertising and sales, accounting and finance functions. (Quad Cities Business Journal) 

More deals announced in September: 

• Axel Springer invests in Abu Dhabi-based outlet The Circuit (Semafor) 
• New York Times Union demands the company abandon Kalshi talks (Front Office Sports) 
• The National Trust for Local News expands to Vermont (Editor & Publisher) 
• Yahoo Finance ends partnership with Polymarket (Talking Biz News) 
• Dews Management to acquire two newspapers from Capital Region Independent Media (The Columbia Paper) 
• Raz acquires ownership of podcast from NPR (Talking Biz News)  
• Orlando Magic and Gray Media announce full-season broadcast partnership (Editor & Publisher) 

Business Insider launching two newsletters

Business Insider is planning to launch VC Insider, its first subscriber-only newsletter. The newsletter plans to cover deals, conversations and power shifts shaping venture capital. It will be written by Editor at Large Katie Roof and Ben Bergman, a senior correspondent who covers the tech industry with a focus on venture capital and startups. (Talking Biz News) 

The company is also launching Small Business Insider, a weekly newsletter by investing correspondent and small business owner Kathleen Elkins. (Talking Biz News) 

Other new initiatives announced in September: 

• Five independent climate journalists team up on a “pop-up newsroom” (NiemanLab) 
• The Athletic launches its first YouTube live show (Editor & Publisher) 
• Don Lemon launches FAST channel on linear and streaming venues (Variety) 
• Sara Moonves launches a print magazine for teens (New York Times) 
• Amazon Prime debuts short-form news clips (TechCrunch) 
• Wired launches a global app (Axios) 
• NPR debuts show on artificial intelligence (Talking Biz News) 
• Politico launches Decoded, a tech policy coverage initiative (Talking Biz News) 

The Guardian creates 40 jobs to train journalists with content creator skills

The Guardian’s new Digital Journalist Scheme will employ 40 journalists on 18-month fixed-term contracts with a salary of £48,000. At least 20% of their time will be spent training and they will complete an apprenticeship qualification as a content creator. 

The news brand said the scheme, which is targeted at journalists with two to three years of experience in journalism or content creation, would build skills across audio, video, photography, text and audience engagement. 

This new roster of jobs is in addition to the 55 permanent roles being created in the UK, U.S. and Australia over the next year across editorial, product development, analytics and commercial. (Press Gazette) 

In case you missed it: 

• California approves local journalism tax credits (Editor & Publisher) 
• Yahoo Finance revamps morning news show lineup (Talking Biz News) 
• IAB revises ad forecast, shows growth for most media (Media Daily News) 
• Radio news salaries rise for second straight year (RTDNA)  
• Forbes journalists ratify first union deal (Talking Biz News) 

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