Journalists in The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.) and News Chief's newsrooms (Winter Haven, Fla.) elected to form a union Thursday and will be represented by The NewsGuild-Communication Workers of America. The bargaining unit, the first in the state according to the union, will cover the newspapers' reporters, photographers, copy editors and other non-management journalists.

tronc, formerly Tribune Publishing, is splitting itself into two separate business units for reporting purposes, the company has announced. Its print publishing arm has been christened "troncM" (for "media") while its digital publishing arm is "troncX" (for "exchange").

The troncM segment includes revenue from print circulation, advertising, and direct mail and expenses related to content, ad sales, distribution and marketing.

The troncX segment includes revenue from digital advertising and digital-only subscriptions, as well as from the Tribune Content Agency, the marketing agency Motiv8 and the real-estate site "For Sale By Owner." Its expenses include dedicated digital staff.

Splitting the business into two reporting segments is a way to separate continuing losses in print circulation and print advertising from the digital side of the business that tronc clearly sees as the future.

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When it comes to data and analytics, newspapers have more information at their fingertips than ever before. "Metrics help us see what readers are and aren't reading. That's a good thing," said Michelle Nicolosi, director of digital, video and Life & Culture at The Oregonian and Oregonlive.com.

And that means good news for publishers, according to Matt Lindsay, president of Mather Economics. There's a misconception that newspaper publishers have continued to be sloth in their digital adoption and innovation. In his estimation, newspapers have a healthy lead on broadcasting, in terms of how they're leveraging data.

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Local investors have signed documents to buy the weekly Fauquier Times, Prince William Times and Gainesville Times from Loudoun-based Virginia News Group, according to Randy Cope, managing director of Cribb, Greene & Cope, who represented Virginia News Group in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.

The Associated Press has expanded its custom content and distribution service, re-branding it AP ContentWorks, to reflect its broader set of capabilities.

AP ContentWorks offers a full suite of customizable services, including strategy, distribution, project management and measurement, as well as the creation of text, video, photo and graphic content. The content is delivered to AP's member publishers and broadcasters through the Nativo platform.

The Associated Press will rank the nation's all-time top college football programs for the first time, as tabulated from its more than 1,100 weekly polls of top college football teams over the past 80 years.

The all-time ranking is being released today at 2 p.m. (EST). They will be based on total poll appearances, number of times ranked No. 1 and AP national championships.

Morris Publishing Group, LLC has acquired Buzz on Biz, LLC which includes the Buzz on Biz suite of print, digital, broadcast, radio shows and events.

Hearst has acquired the Houston Community Newspapers & Media Group from 1013 Star Communications. The announcement was made by Hearst President and CEO Steven R. Swartz and Hearst Newspapers President Mark Aldam. Dirks, Van Essen & Murray represented Hearst in the sale.

The Barrow County News, the oldest continually operating business in Barrow County (Ga.), has been acquired by Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc., of Jefferson and will be merged with the Barrow Journal to become a single newspaper and website servicing the people of Barrow County.

Fayetteville Publishing Co. has sold The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer and its other businesses to GateHouse Media, LLC. The sale ends 93 years of local ownership by the family of the late Ashton Wilson Lilly.

Fayetteville Publishing Co. was represented by Gary Greene, managing director of Cribb, Greene & Cope.