News-media roundup: Gannett sells to CherryRoad again, this time for its first press; Okla. gets a States Newsroom

Reno County, Kansas, of which
Hutchinsion is the seat. (Wikipedia)

CherryRoad Media CEO Jeremy Gulban said at this year's National Summit on Journalism in Rural America that so many pressrooms are closing, he might build a printing plant for his growing newspaper chain. Now he has decided to keep building his company in the main way he's already done it: buy from Gannett Co. Gulban announced Wednesday that he has agreed to buy Gannett's printing plant in Hutchinson, Kansas, which is already printing most of his 80 papers, more than 60 bought from Gannett. The sale does not include Gannett's Hutchinson News. Gulban said in a press release that he "wants to blend new technologies with traditional printed publications to help ensure the future of local newspapers."

States Newsroom, a network of state-based nonprofit news outlets, has launched its 36th operation, Oklahoma Voice. The editor-in-chief is Janelle Stecklein, who has covered Oklahoma government and politics since 2014 as state-capital bureau chief for Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.

Seventeen nonprofit news organizations have created the Alliance of Nonprofit News Outlets to provide mutual aid and encourage more philanthropic contributions to their operations. The group grew out of appeals to foundations for more unrestricted operating grants. "It was evident that we needed an organization to represent the interests of nonprofit news outlets by continuing to apply pressure on funders for the long haul," wrote Jason Pramas, executive director of the Boston Center for Nonprofit Journalism. "We have absolutely no intention of competing with existing nonprofit news coalitions like the Institute for Nonprofit News and the Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers. ANNO’s work will be focused on pushing journalism funders to give more money to news nonprofits, give it directly to those organizations, and disburse it in the form of larger general operating grants rather than smaller, less effective, project grants."