"The [contract with Thus] will help Johnston Press – which publishes 318 local newspapers – to put common systems for advertising, editorial and production on the central network to aid the transition from print to online media."

"With the exception of Johnston Press, most of the big newspaper shares - on both sides of the pond - have actually outperformed Google over the past three months."

"Tim Bowdler, the most respected chief executive in regional newspapers, is due to retire from Johnston Press in 2009 and headhunters have been contacted about beginning the search to replace him in the New Year."

"Investors braced for disappointing news on Wednesday when publisher Johnston Press is due to update them on current prospects for its regional titles that include The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post."

"Spike had heard long ago that the website for The Scotsman newspaper was about to undergo an overhaul. It thinks it has stumbled across a test version".

Another use of Google Maps for regional newspaper web sites…

Linked to purchase of the Irish regional newspaper: "Independent News & Media, the Irish Times, Johnston Press and John Taylor’s Alpha Newspapers … along with … Claret Capital and … Boundary Capital, as well as UK media groups who are new to the Iri

"Eighteen months after the [Lancashire Evening Post] became the UK’s first fully convergent regional newsroom, editor Simon Reynolds has hailed the development as a great success." LEP web traffic was up to 300K uniques in October.

Why are shares in the big regional newspaper companies so depressed at the moment? Johnston Press, for example, "s at its lowest level since the dark days of post-bubble 2001"

"Morgan Stanley has turned bullish on the newspaper industry. … Stock prices in the sector have fallen enough… [DMGT] offers ‘excellent upside’ with value also emerging at Johnston Press and Trinity Mirror, says Morgan. In other words, buy on weakness

"UBS said it was concerned about structural risks facing the UK regional newspaper industry."

Johnston Press chief exec Tim Bowdler on bringing 24-hour rolling news to local and regional papers: "Suddenly, we are in the business of breaking news again … That is something that we have not done for a while, and our journalists are loving it."

"The UK’s local newspaper industry lost about £225m in revenue last year as regional publishers invested heavily online but failed to counter declining circulation and advertising revenue in print"