USA TODAY Co., owner of the Detroit Free Press, will acquire The Detroit News and continue to publish it separately, it announced Monday.
The company said it has agreed to a binding letter of intent to acquire The News from MediaNews Group, a transaction it expects to complete by month’s end. Terms of the deal will not be disclosed, the announcement said.
USA TODAY Co. noted it is acquiring the three-time reigning Michigan Newspaper of the Year for journalistic excellence, as honored by the Michigan Press Association. The News is a leading source of digital news and one of the top regional digital news sources in the nation.
“Welcoming The Detroit News fully to our network will enable the continued delivery of trusted, high-quality news and content to our audiences and advertisers in the region,” CEO Mike Reed said in a statement. The acquisition “reinforces our commitment to local journalism in the Detroit metropolitan area.”
It’s the latest twist in ownership for the Detroit dailies, which on Dec. 28 concluded a 36-year joint operating agreement. In that partnership, business operations of The News and Free Press were merged under management of USA TODAY Co., while the newsrooms competed against each other under separate ownership.
As the companies worked to untether those business operations, The News announced on Dec. 26 that it planned to start a separate Sunday paper beginning Jan. 18. It abruptly delayed those plans on Jan. 9.
Formerly known as Gannett Co., USA TODAY Co. did not immediately disclose its plans for The News, except to say, “The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News will continue to publish separately.”
“We are pleased to reach this agreement with USA TODAY Co. now that the joint operations agreement has expired after decades of successful operations,” said Guy Gilmore, COO of MediaNews Group, in a statement. “Both companies have a mutual desire to ensure that these publications and their distinct journalism continue to serve the greater Detroit area.”
USA TODAY Co. was prohibited from certain acquisitions and increased indebtedness without the consent of its lenders, it said in its 2025 annual report.
On Monday, it said it would finance the purchase of The News in part with cash and also with funds managed by Apollo Global Management, its primary lender. It did not disclose a price.
“Apollo continues to be a great partner of USA TODAY Co.,” Reed’s statement said. “Their commitment enables us to fund this strategic acquisition.”
It is rare for the two major dailies in a metro area to be owned by one parent company, but it is not unprecedented. Cox Enterprises purchased the Atlanta Journal in 1939 and purchased the Atlanta Constitution in 1950. They continued to publish separately until they merged as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2001.
Similar deals have prompted scrutiny from the Department of Justice, such as when The News and Free Press first announced their joint operating agreement in 1986; it was contested in courts until 1989, when the U.S. Supreme Court deadlocked over an attempt to block it.
The sale to USA TODAY Co. marks a return for The News to its former corporate parent.
Founded in 1873 by James E. Scripps as The Evening News, The News marked several firsts in the 113 years before its sale to Gannett in 1986.
The News founded WWJ-AM (950), broadcasting for the first time in August 1920 from the second floor of The News building.
A pioneer in aerial photography, The News purchased a gyrocopter with aswiveling camera to better cover news events in 1931. It was later donated to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, where it remains on display.
In 1942, News photographer Milton Brooks won the inaugural Pulitzer Prize for photography for his 1941 photograph of Ford Motor Co. strikers being beaten. The News has won three Pulitzers, recognized as the highest honor in journalism.
The News debuted broadcast television in Michigan in 1947, founding WDIV-TV (Channel 4).
By its 100th anniversary, The News had achieved the largest evening circulation of any newspaper in the country. With readers moving toward morning newspapers, The News launched a morning edition in 1976.
In July 1995, The News launched detnews.com, becoming among the first newspapers to distribute content on the World Wide Web. It now has nearly 3 million users every month.
After 113 years of independent ownership, the Scripps family sold The News and its array of other newspapers and broadcast stations to Gannett for $717 million, instantly making The News the largest local paper in the Gannett chain.
Almost immediately thereafter, the owners of The News and Free Press filed to create the joint operating agreement, declaring that the Free Press was in imminent danger of failing. When finally approved, it became the largest such agreement in the United States.
In 2005, with Free Press owner Knight-Ridder under increasing pressure, Gannett purchased the Free Press and sold The News to MediaNews Group for $25 million. The two companies entered the 20-year business partnership that ended in December.
