Detroit's two main newspapers, The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, are about to fall under one corporate umbrella for the first time in over four decades. USA TODAY Co., the nation's largest newspaper publisher, has agreed to acquire The Detroit News from MediaNews Group.
The deal marks a significant shift in the city's newspaper landscape, following the expiration of a joint operating agreement between the two publications on December 28, 2025. This long-standing arrangement allowed for shared business operations, but it's now coming to an end.
USA TODAY Co., formerly known as Gannett Co., already owns the Detroit Free Press and has been handling both papers' publishing under one roof since 2019. The acquisition of The Detroit News will give USA TODAY Co. more control over advertising and circulation for both publications.
Despite this change in ownership, editorial teams at both newspapers are expected to remain independent and operate separately. This will ensure that the city's two major news sources continue to produce high-quality journalism without interference from corporate interests.
The acquisition is also likely to have implications for local readership and digital engagement. Both papers have a strong track record of publishing in Detroit, with The Detroit News founded in 1873 and the Detroit Free Press in 1831. According to recent data, they rank among the top local news websites in the US.
While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, funding for the acquisition is expected to come from a combination of cash and borrowing. MediaNews Group, which owns The Detroit News, has faced significant challenges in recent years due to declining print advertising revenue.
For editorial staff at The Detroit News, the change in ownership will likely bring new opportunities as positions are offered with USA TODAY Co. The move is seen as a strategic investment by the publisher to strengthen its local presence and portfolio of over 200 newspapers nationwide.
As the Detroit newspaper market continues to evolve, one thing remains clear: both The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press have a long history of serving the city's residents through quality journalism.
The deal marks a significant shift in the city's newspaper landscape, following the expiration of a joint operating agreement between the two publications on December 28, 2025. This long-standing arrangement allowed for shared business operations, but it's now coming to an end.
USA TODAY Co., formerly known as Gannett Co., already owns the Detroit Free Press and has been handling both papers' publishing under one roof since 2019. The acquisition of The Detroit News will give USA TODAY Co. more control over advertising and circulation for both publications.
Despite this change in ownership, editorial teams at both newspapers are expected to remain independent and operate separately. This will ensure that the city's two major news sources continue to produce high-quality journalism without interference from corporate interests.
The acquisition is also likely to have implications for local readership and digital engagement. Both papers have a strong track record of publishing in Detroit, with The Detroit News founded in 1873 and the Detroit Free Press in 1831. According to recent data, they rank among the top local news websites in the US.
While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, funding for the acquisition is expected to come from a combination of cash and borrowing. MediaNews Group, which owns The Detroit News, has faced significant challenges in recent years due to declining print advertising revenue.
For editorial staff at The Detroit News, the change in ownership will likely bring new opportunities as positions are offered with USA TODAY Co. The move is seen as a strategic investment by the publisher to strengthen its local presence and portfolio of over 200 newspapers nationwide.
As the Detroit newspaper market continues to evolve, one thing remains clear: both The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press have a long history of serving the city's residents through quality journalism.
USA TODAY Co. is just gonna suck all the life outta The Detroit News and turn it into some watered-down corporate rag. They'll just phone it in with clickbait headlines and shallow reporting to try and milk more clicks from their dwindling audience. And don't even get me started on the editorial teams... they're gonna be stuck under the umbrella of USA TODAY Co.'s bean-counting overlords, forced to produce click-friendly garbage instead of real journalism. It's a shame, Detroit deserves better than this corporate shenanigans.
. I mean, how many times do we gotta lose local ownership before it all gets sucked up into some giant media conglomerate? It's like they're just trying to crush any semblance of independent journalism. And what's with the " editorial teams will remain independent" line? Save it, folks. We all know that's just corporate doublespeak 
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just thinking about this acquisition and how it'll shake things up in detroit... i mean, we're basically gonna see the same news coming from one umbrella, yeah? but on the bright side, it'll be nice to have more resources for both papers 
detroit free press is older than i am! anyway, hope the editorial teams stay independent and keep pushing out quality journalism 
whats gonna happen to the free press tho? im confused about this whole deal... isnt it bad that theyre gonna lose their independance tho 
i mean i wanna see both newspapers still puttin out good content tho... how's this gonna affect the ads tho? is usa today gonna just take all the ad money for itself? 
. i'm curious to see how circulation and advertising will shift now that usa today co owns both papers. maybe this means more resources for investigative journalism 
. either way, detroit has a rich newspaper history and i'm sure these two publications will keep serving the city well 
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They're keeping the editorial teams separate so that means the journalism stays on point. Not sure about the advertising side tho... might affect how they cover stuff? 
Detroit's news scene just got a whole lot more interesting!