More Media News

• Gannett and USA Today have been hit with a lawsuit from Vivera Pharmaceuticals. The suit calls for damages of more than $500 million and alleges defamation, trade libel and intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, says a news release from California-based Vivera. The suit involves a June 2 USA Today article titled “You could see the train wreck coming': Inexperienced, dubious companies among many aiming to cash in on coronavirus antibody tests.”

• The U.S. ad market fell sharply in May, dropping 31% from the same month a year ago, according to data from the U.S. Ad Market Tracker, a collaboration of MediaPost and Standard Media Index. The May numbers come on the heels of a 35% decline in April and an 11% decline in March.

• Nearly 150 are being cut in Ponderay Newsprint’s shuttering. Washington’s Employment Security Department has verified that the Ponderay Newsprint paper mill in Usk, Washington, is closing and cutting 148 employees, the Spokesman-Review reported. Ponderay is a partnership between Lake Superior Forest Products, a subsidiary of Canada-based Resolute Forest Products, and five major U.S. publishers, says the Ponderay website. The mill produces newsprint for publishers along the West Coast and in the Midwestern U.S. and exports to markets in Asia and South America. The mill opened in 1989.

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