Proof that not every masthead problem has to lead to a closure comes this week from Massachusetts, where four newspapers due to be closed by Gannett have been saved at the last moment.

Kristen Payson of Holden’s The Landmark borrowed from Samuel Clemens this week to say that the report of her paper’s death was an exaggeration. But it was a near thing.

Instead of being its final edition – and that of three other titles – September 15 became the first under the ownerwhip of fast-growing group CherryRoad Media… subject to contract.

Gannett was to have closed The Landmark and sister publications, the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, Grafton News and Leominster Champion.

Based in Parsippany, New Jersey, CherryRoad Media has a sister company in software modernisation using solutions such cloud hosting and network systems.

Pleased to be able to prevent the closure of the papers, chief executive and founder Jeremy Gulban became a newspaper publisher in late 2020 and now has 71 newspapers in 12 states including the four Holden papers and three more in Michigan acquired the previous week.

CherryRoad is also acquiring the Chronicle-Express of Pan Yan, New York, which was also headed for closure.

Gulban refers to the acquisitions as “one of our ways to give back to our community, by acquiring media houses that add so much value to our daily lives but are suffering the brunt of digital age by losing subscriptions.” He plans to use the acumen gained through enabling technologies to “enhance the online experience of these media assets”.