In media news, two of the country’s largest newspaper publishers are merging. GateHouse Media acquired Gannett, which owns USA Today, among other papers, for $1.4 billion. The new company will own over 250 daily newspapers and hundreds of other weekly and community publications. The company, which will retain the name Gannett, will own over one-sixth of all daily newspapers in the United States. Critics warn the merger could result in newsroom layoffs and that local reporting may be sacrificed in favor of stories produced remotely and republished across many of the companies’ newspapers.