Not necessarily a good thing: GateHouse Media Acquires Gannett In $1.4 Billion Merger Deal

Say what you will about Gannett Newspapers, which like other newspaper companies, has cut back on staff severely, reducing the number of stories published, reducing local news coverage, etc., the reality is that most of their newspapers are still allowed to do some investigative reporting, and over the past few years I've noticed many important stories published by papers throughout the chain.

This extends to USA Today, which has published many important articles on a variety of topics, from treatment of workers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to cheating on school assessment tests in Washington, DC -- where they scooped the local newspaper, the Washington Post.

OTOH, Gatehouse Media isn't known for investing in enterprise and investigative journalism.  They are known for monetizing assets and reducing staff.

Given how important newspapers have been historically to civic involvement and engagement, this is a worrisome development.

Not that newspapers aren't on the decline anyway.