Federal regulators have cleared the way for a proposed $1.4 billion merger between newspaper giants Gannett and GateHouse Media.

The merger has passed an antitrust review by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

A longtime Palm Beach Post reader and executive chef at Breakers West recently became $100,000 richer as the winner of the Crack The Code contest, a summer-long promotion at 150 GateHouse Media newspapers nationwide.

Rick Dumas, senior director of single copy sales for GateHouse Media, will share details about the contest with SNPA and Inland members at the Oct. 6-8 Annual Meeting in Chicago.

GateHouse Media, the owner of the Amarillo Globe-News, announced that Belinda Wheeler Mills, the publication's current director of operations/advertising director, has assumed the title of general manager/advertising director.

New Media Investment Group Inc. and Gannett Co., Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which New Media will acquire Gannett for a combination of cash and stock.

The merger brings together the portfolios of two leading local newspaper companies, and includes USA TODAY, Gannett's flagship brand, and its more than 160 brands in the U.K., which will significantly expand the existing USA TODAY NETWORK.

This combination will create a broad network of talented, experienced journalists poised to deliver unique and award-winning content for local communities and national audiences. The breadth and depth of each company's digital offerings will make the combined company a leading digital media player. Additionally, the joining of New Media's UpCurve and GateHouse Live businesses with Gannett's ReachLocal and WordStream subsidiaries will provide multiple, diversified marketing and revenue solutions and position the combined company as a stronger partner for advertisers and small businesses in the markets served.

Keep up to date with the latest Gannett and GateHouse merger news, including perspectives from newspapers and media experts around the country, at this link.

GateHouse Media, LLC and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting have embarked on a new partnership through the creation of an agriculture data journalism fellowship funded by GateHouse.

The agricultural data reporter will be embedded in the newsroom of the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and will focus on in-depth agribusiness investigative reporting.

GateHouse Media launched a nationwide single-copy promotion earlier this year in an effort to boost readership and sales. Starting in May, the publisher ran its "Crack the Code" promo for eight weeks, giving away weekly prizes totaling $150,000.

"As of late June, we'd already received more than 341,000 entries," Rick Dumas, senior director of single-copy sales for GateHouse, told News & Tech.

Read more from News & Tech.

Brad Bailey has been named general manager of GateHouse Media's three suburban Philadelphia newspapers and websites.

Bailey, currently publisher of the Press-Republican newspaper in Plattsburgh, N.Y., will oversee digital and print operations for the The Intelligencer, Bucks County Courier Times, and the Burlington County Times in New Jersey.

The deal isn't yet finished. But Ken Doctor says he has been told by multiple sources that there are no major stumbling blocks left to negotiate in a megamerger between the United States' two largest daily newspaper chains – Gannett and GateHouse. It's increasingly likely to happen, with an announcement by summer's end. That's despite absolute public silence from the companies involved.

Read more from his article in NiemanLab.

Carlene Cox, formerly director of specialty content for GateHouse Media, has been named the company's director of communications.

GateHouse Media has announced a powerful investment in journalism: a national investigative and data-driven reporting team of more than 30 award-winning editors and reporters. The team will be embedded in local newsrooms, adding to local coverage efforts.

The team will be headed by Managing Editor Emily Le Coz, an award-winning journalist and GateHouse Media's first national digital projects editor. The team will report on high-impact national projects, elevate local news and experiment with innovative ways to shape the future of the industry.