Wall Street Journal: Gannett Co., publisher of the Des Moines Register and USA Today, is nearing a deal to combine with rival GateHouse Media, people familiar with the matter said, a move that would join the nation’s two largest newspaper groups by circulation at a time local media is in a battle for survival. The companies are grappling with a brutal environment for local newspapers around the country. Private-equity-backed GateHouse has a reputation for aggressively slashing expenses at titles it acquires.