Two of America’s top publishing industry associations are to merge, according to Poynter’s Rick Edmonds.

The understanding is that News Media Alliance will absorb the Association of Magazine Media (MPA) but while NMA members have been asked for their approval – with terms of an agreement emailed to members last Monday ahead of a Zoom meeting on May 6 – Edmonds had been unable to get confirmation from the MPA side.

MPA senior vice president Rita Cohen had declined to comment to him about negotiations.

Edmonds says that the biggest activity of the MPA – which lists a staff of only three – had become advocacy and lobbying, as it is for NMA.

Both industry segments have been dramatically impacted by reduced advertising revenue and competition from tech giants such as Google and Facebook. NMA has been working for an antitrust waiver to allow news publishers to negotiate with the tech giants over content use.

Edmonds understands seven MPA directors will join NMA’s board, with six of them to then become part of a ‘legacy directors’ group responsible for the use of reserve funds being brought by MPA. They will also advise on magazine-specific developments, “and work to facilitate integration of MPA members into NMA”.