Lower valuations for U.S. metro dailies have unfairly led to lower prices of small-market papers, according to the CEO of community newspaper publisher GateHouse Media Inc., Editor & Publisher reported Friday.

Newspapers' market valuations have “spilled too much into the small-market newspaper industry,” CEO Michael E. Reed said in a conference call with analysts. “What that means is there’s a fantastic opportunity in that space.”

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Guardian News & Media has revealed more information on its plans to combine the newsrooms of the Guardian, Observer, and guardian.co.uk as it closes in on the goal to become a 24/7 multimedia operation by the end of the year, when it moves to its new location at Kings Place, the Guardian reported Friday.

The Web site and two newspapers will keep their own executive management teams, and the Observer will also retain its news desk and team of news reporters, as well as its editing operation, magazines and separate features department.

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Less than a year after New York's Avista Capital Partners bought the Minneapolis Star Tribune from the McClatchy Co., the investment has “gone so sour” that if there is no monetary infusion or Avista does not hold a firesale, bankruptcy may be the only way out, Followthemedia's Philip Stone wrote Thursday.

“One has to assume that the Avista people are not stupid – they went through the Star Tribune’s books, they saw the cash flow, they thought (they) knew what they were getting into, believing that the cash flow would handle debt and operate the business with very little need for any major cutbacks,” Stone states. “And yet in less than a year that investment has gone so sour that although the newspaper insists it is not in a bankruptcy situation and it can still handle debt this year, it has brought in a another private equity firm to analyse its balance sheet.”

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American Community Newspapers (ACN) reported a net loss of US$4.5 million in the first quarter, while the publisher's revenue slid 11.7 percent, Editor & Publisher reported Thursday.

Revenue fell mainly due to poor performances from the Texas-based publisher's 44 papers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

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Madison, Wis.-based The Capital Times will print its final daily newspaper Saturday, and next week will begin publishing two tabloids a week, the Associated Press reported Monday.

The 90-year-old afternoon daily will use the paper's online version for daily coverage, and has shrunk staff numbers.

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The Daily Mail increased its price to 50 pence Monday, for which rival Daily Express accused it of "staggering hypocrisy," the Guardian reported.

The company said its price increase was due to higher fuel charges, printing, production and distribution costs, according to the Guardian report.

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Metro International sales were down in the first quarter compared with the same quarter last year, the company announced Monday.

However, although operating losses were at €5.6 million for the 2008 first quarter, they were less than the €8.8 million losses of the same quarter in 2007, Newspaper Innovation reported Monday.

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The London Paper, News International’s London freesheet, has lost almost £17 million in its first 10 months of publication; the turnover for the period was £8 million, the Guardian reported Friday.

Launched in September 2006, The London Paper recorded a pre-tax loss of £16.8 million during the year ending in June 2007.

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The U.S. version of the Wall Street Journal could be available to other parts of Europe, following its launch in London, the Guardian reported.

The U.S. edition of the financial paper began being sold in London for the first time Wednesday as part of News Corp.'s global expansion plans.

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Times Newspapers took a smaller hit on redundancy costs at its printing operations, causing losses to be cut in half for the owner of the Times and Sunday Times, the Guardian reported Wednesday.

Pre-tax losses were down 46 percent, at £43.9 million for the year ending June 2007, compared to losses of £81.8 million the year before.

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The City Paper, a free daily in Nashville, will switch from a daily model to a twice weekly model at the end of April, Newspaper Innovation reported Tuesday.

The last daily issue will be printed April 25.

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The Financial Times, impacted by the downward sales trend afflicting the quality daily papers, recording a 1.3 percent year-on-year circulation decline last month.

The business title sold an average of 454,937 copies worldwide in March, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

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Baltimore will launch a second free daily called ‘b’ Monday, according to Newspaper Innovation.

The free daily is published by Baltimore Sun and will have an initial circulation of 50,000. The Circulation is predicted to increase 75,000 in September, and possibly reach 100,000 by the end of the year, Newspaper Innovation reported.

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The two free Singapore dailies, Today and MyPaper, have grown in circulation from 250,000 to 300,000 each during 2008, NewspaperInnovation.com reported on Friday.

The free daily Today (MediaCorp) launched in 2000, while MyPaper (Singapore Press Holdings), was launched in 2006.

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Two Spanish-language newspapers published in Texas will be merged into one, home-delivered publication beginning May 2, according to its parent company, Star-Telegram.

La Estrella, the 14-year-old free weekly published by the Star-Telegram, will be merged with La Estrella En Casa, another free weekly launched last May and delivered to about 100,000 households in Dallas-Fort Worth, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

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