About 450,000 people will be without power starting at 7 a.m. Wednesday as dry weather and strong winds roll through Northern California, increasing the risk of fires.

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The number of affected customers was cut in half from Pacific Gas & Electric’s original estimates, affecting 18 counties. The shutoffs will begin with Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and portions of Sonoma and Yolo counties, the utility giant said.

North valleys, including Shasta and portions of Tehema counties, will see shutoffs starting at 8 a.m. The northern Sierra foothills, including Butte and Plumas counties, may experience shutoffs as late as 4 p.m.

Customers can learn when they are expected to lose power on PG&E’s website. The utility said it expects to restore electricity by the end of the day Thursday.

Fire danger across the region is expected through Thursday morning, with a red flag warning in place, as a low-pressure system descends into Southern California, bringing the first rain and snow of the season.

Wind gusts in Northern California may reach 55 mph, with humidity levels in the teens, according to the National Weather Service. Overnight conditions aren’t expected to lessen fire risks, forecasters said.

PG&E said in a statement late Tuesday there has been more uncertainty with the strength, timing and humidity levels of this weather system, but peak winds should subside by mid-morning Thursday.

The same low-pressure system’s movement is causing the opposite problem in Southern California. Though meteorologists say the risk is low, rain always brings a potential for devastating mudslides in recently burned areas.

Flash flood watches are in place in the mountains, coast and valleys of San Diego County, as well as large parts of the Inland Empire, the weather service said.

The Times called Andrew Norman’s “Sustain” the best piece of new music in 2018, and on Wednesday the Grammy Awards nominators hinted they just might agree.

“Sustain” earned Grammy nominations in two key categories: contemporary classical composition, where composer Norman will square off against Julia Wolfe, Caroline Shaw and Wynton Marsalis, among others; and orchestral performance, where the nomination went to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who performed “Sustain” as part of the orchestra’s landmark centennial season.

In reviewing that live premiere, Times critic Mark Swed called Norman’s piece a breakthrough for the composer, “a near out of body acoustic experience.” When the L.A. Phil performed “Sustain” again this month, Swed noted how well the piece held up, “a riot of intersecting patterns that look like ant colonies on the move or seeds scattering in the wind.”

Los Angeles artists popped up elsewhere in the Grammys’ classical nominations. In the opera recording category, L.A. director Yuval Sharon’s Bayreuth Festival production of Wagner’s “Lohengrin” earned a nomination for conductor Christian Thielemann, producer Eckhard Glauche and soloists Piotr Beczala, Anja Harteros, Tomasz Konieczny, Waltraud Meier and Georg Zeppenfeld.

In the category of chamber music and small ensemble performance, L.A. new music guru Christopher Rountree and his ensemble Wild Up earned a nomination for their recording of Christopher Cerrone’s “The Pieces That Fall to the Earth.”

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The full list of Grammy nominations in classical categories:

Orchestral performance

Award to the conductor and orchestra.

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9. Manfred Honeck, conductor. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Copland: Billy the Kid; Grohg. Leonard Slatkin, conductor. Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Norman: Sustain. Gustavo Dudamel, conductor. Los Angeles Philharmonic

Transatlantic. Louis Langrée, conductor. Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Weinberg: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 21. Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, conductor. City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Kremerata Baltica

Opera recording

Award to the conductor, album producers and principal soloists

Benjamin: Lessons in Love & Violence. George Benjamin, conductor. Stéphane Degout, Barbara Hannigan, Peter Hoare and Gyula Orendt, soloists. James Whitbourn, producer. Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Berg: Wozzeck. Marc Albrecht, conductor. Christopher Maltman and Eva-Maria Westbroek, soloists. François Roussillon, producer. Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra; Chorus of Dutch National Opera

Charpentier: Les Arts Florissants; Les Plaisirs De Versailles. Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs, conductors. Jesse Blumberg, Teresa Wakim and Virginia Warnken, soloists. Renate Wolter-Seevers, producer. Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble; Boston Early Music Festival Vocal Ensemble

Picker: Fantastic Mr. Fox. Gil Rose, conductor. John Brancy, Andrew Craig Brown, Gabriel Preisser, Krista River and Edwin Vega, soloists. Gil Rose, producer. Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Boston Children’s Chorus

Wagner: Lohengrin. Christian Thielemann, conductor. Piotr Beczała, Anja Harteros, Tomasz Konieczny, Waltraud Meier and Georg Zeppenfeld, soloists. Eckhard Glauche, producer. Festspielorchester Bayreuth. Festspielchor Bayreuth

Choral performance

Award to the conductor and to the choral director and/or chorus master where applicable and to the choral organization/ensemble.

Boyle: Voyages. Donald Nally, conductor. The Crossing

Duruflé: Complete Choral Works. Robert Simpson, conductor. Ken Cowan; Houston Chamber Choir

The Hope of Loving. Craig Hella Johnson, conductor. Conspirare

Sander: The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Peter Jermihov, conductor. Evan Bravos, Vadim Gan, Kevin Keys, Glenn Miller and Daniel Shirley. PaTRAM Institute Singers

Smith, K.: The Arc in the Sky. Donald Nally, conductor. The Crossing

Chamber music/small ensemble performance

For new recordings of works by ensembles of 24 or fewer members, not including the conductor. One award to the ensemble and one award to the conductor, if applicable.

Cerrone: The Pieces That Fall to Earth. Christopher Rountree & Wild Up

Freedom & Faith. PUBLIQuartet

Perpetulum. Third Coast Percussion

Rachmaninoff – Hermitage Piano Trio. Hermitage Piano Trio

Shaw: Orange. Attacca Quartet

Classical instrumental solo

Award to the instrumental soloists and to the conductor when applicable.

The Berlin Recital. Yuja Wang

Higdon: Harp Concerto. Yolanda Kondonassis. Ward Stare, conductor. The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

Marsalis: Violin Concerto; Fiddle Dance Suite. Nicola Benedetti. Cristian Macelaru, conductor. Philadelphia Orchestra

The Orchestral Organ. Jan Kraybill

Torke: Sky, Concerto for Violin. Tessa Lark. David Alan Miller, conductor. Albany Symphony

Classical solo vocal album

Award to vocalists, collaborative artists, producers, recording engineers/mixers with 51% or more playing time of new material

The Edge of Silence – Works for Voice by Gyorgy Kurtag. Susan Narucki. Donald Berman, Curtis Macomber, Kathryn Schulmeister and Nicholas Tolle

Himmelsmusik. Philippe Jaroussky and Celine Scheen. Christina Pluhar, conductor. L’Arpeggiata, ensemble. Jesús Rodil & Dingle Yandell

Schumann: Liederkreis Op. 24, Kerner-Lieder Op. 35. Matthias Goerne. Leif Ove Andsnes, accompanist

Songplay. Joyce DiDonato. Chuck Israels, Jimmy Madison, Charlie Porter and Craig Terry, accompanists. Steve Barnett and Lautaro Greco

A Te, O Cara. Stephen Costello. Constantine Orbelian, conductor. Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra

Classical compendium

Award to the artists and to the album producers and engineers of over 51% playing time of the album, if other than the artist.

American Originals 1918. John Morris Russell, conductor. Elaine Martone, producer

Leshnoff: Symphony No. 4 ‘Heichalos’; Guitar Concerto; Starburst. Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor. Tim Handley, producer

Meltzer: Songs and Structures. Paul Appleby and Natalia Katyukova. Silas Brown and Harold Meltzer, producers

The Poetry of Places. Nadia Shpachenko. Marina A. Ledin and Victor Ledin, producers

Saariaho: True Fire; Trans; Ciel d’Hiver. Hannu Lintu, conductor. Laura Heikinheimo, producer

Contemporary classical composition

A composer’s award for work composed within the last 25 years and released for the first time. Award to the librettist, if applicable.

Bermel: Migration Series For Jazz Ensemble & Orchestra. Derek Bermel, composer. Derek Bermel, Ted Nash, David Alan Miller, Juilliard Jazz Orchestra & Albany Symphony Orchestra

Higdon: Harp Concerto. Jennifer Higdon, composer. Yolanda Kondonassis, Ward Stare & the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

Marsalis: Violin Concerto In D Major. Wynton Marsalis, composer. Nicola Benedetti, Cristian Macelaru & Philadelphia Orchestra

Norman: Sustain. Andrew Norman, composer. Gustavo Dudamel and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Shaw: Orange. Caroline Shaw, composer. Attacca Quartet

Wolfe: Fire in My Mouth. Julia Wolfe, composer. Jaap Van Zweden, Francisco J. Núñez, Donald Nally, the Crossing, Young People’s Chorus of NY City and New York Philharmonic

Best engineered album, classical

An Engineer’s Award. (Artists in parentheses.)

Aequa – Anna Thorvaldsdóttir. Daniel Shores, engineer. Daniel Shores, mastering engineer (International Contemporary Ensemble)

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9. Mark Donahue, engineer. Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)

Rachmaninoff – Hermitage Piano Trio. Keith O. Johnson & Sean Royce Martin, engineers. Keith O. Johnson, mastering engineer (Hermitage Piano Trio)

Riley: Sun Rings. Leslie Ann Jones, engineer; Robert C. Ludwig, mastering engineer (Kronos Quartet)

Wolfe: Fire in My Mouth. Bob Hanlon & Lawrence Rock, engineers. Ian Good & Lawrence Rock, mastering engineers (Jaap Van Zweden, Francisco J. Núñez, Donald Nally, the Crossing, Young People’s Chorus of NY City and New York Philharmonic)

Producer of the Year, Classical

Blanton Alspaugh

James Ginsburg

Marina A. Ledin, Victor Ledin

Morten Lindberg

Dirk Sobotka

Lana Del Rey’s “Norman F—ing Rockwell!” didn’t shy away from expletives, but the 2020 Grammy nominations announcers sure did.

The first test arrived when singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha read the list of nominees Wednesday for song of the year. “Always Remember Us This Way,” “Bad Guy,” “Bring My Flowers Now,” “Hard Place” and “Lover” came and went smoothly, and then came the moment of truth: “Norman Effin’ Rockwell.”

“I was wondering if you were going to say that,” host Gayle King said with an anxious laugh, referring to the song title’s F-bomb. “Thank you for not.”

“I got yelled at backstage already,” Rexha joked. “They’re like, ‘Don’t you dare!’”

Behind the pair, the provocative title track on Del Rey’s latest album appeared on the screen: “Norman F***ing Rockwell.”

The announcement occurs around the 27-minute mark in the video below.

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Del Rey’s fellow nominees for song of the year include Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Tanya Tucker, H.E.R., Taylor Swift, Lewis Capaldi and Lizzo. Del Rey also nabbed a nod for album of the year.

The Grammy Awards will air live from Staples Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 26. Alicia Keys will return as host.

Every few years at the Grammys, the country community rallies around an older, critically beloved but commercially marginal artist. In 2005, it was Loretta Lynn for “Van Lear Rose,” her collaboration with Jack White. In 2017, it was psychedelic roughneck Sturgill Simpson, whose album of the year nod was no less surprising to him than anyone.

And in 2020, it will be the return of Tanya Tucker.

Tucker, the 61-year-old hard-living, sexually provocative and narratively gifted singer, won four nominations including song of the year and country song for “Bring My Flowers Now,” off her album “While I’m Livin’.” It’s not quite a comeback LP — she released a lovely album of standards in 2009. But her nods affirm the influence she’s had over a generation of spiky, defiant Grammy favorites like Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves and the Dixie Chicks.

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More Grammys coverage

Tucker, in her early career, was an instant star but often portrayed as redneck jailbait (note the uncomfortably leering undertones of a Rolling Stone cover profile from 1974, “Tanya Tucker: The Teenage Teaser”). She did revel in the attention at the time, according to her memoir, and songs like “Would You Lay with Me” brought a freewheeling rebelliousness that shook up the genre.

But Tucker was a peer of legends like Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and Lynn (who dryly joked that the teenage Tucker was the intended audience for her song “The Pill”). Though she waxed and waned on radio — her ’86 triumph “Girls Like Me” had four top-ten country singles — her influence in recent decades was more ideological than commercial.

That could change with “While I’m Livin’,” which will return Tucker to the biggest stage in pop music after 14 nominations but no wins to date.

There’s also some recent Grammy shine beneath the LP. Tucker co-wrote the album with Brandi Carlile, who pulled down three wins and three top-category nominations in 2018 for her song “The Joke” and album “By the Way, I Forgive You.” Carlile (alongside longtime writing collaborators Phil and Tim Hanseroth) is a clear inheritor of Tucker’s mix of tenderness and tough-as-leather writing. Maybe it’s no surprise that in our current reexamining of how women are condescended to and chewed up in the entertainment industry, there’s something in Tucker’s story that would invite championing.

Alongside producer Shooter Jennings — another outlaw veteran who produced for acts ranging from Wanda Jackson to Marilyn Manson — they found the contemporary resonance in Tucker’s life story and rough-hewn, still mesmerizing vocals. The resurrection of a vintage country act with contemporary writers and producers is a favorite Grammy move, perhaps even a cliché today. But that doesn’t make Tucker’s success any less welcome.

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Spain’s Rosalía is making more Grammy history.

The flamenco-inspired hip-hop artist scored two 2020 Grammy nominations Wednesday morning — one for best new artist and the other in the Latin rock, urban or alternative album category for “El Mal Querer.” This makes Rosalía the first best new artist nominee recognized for music recorded entirely in Spanish.

Other Spanish-speaking artists have been nominated in the category over the years (including Vikki Carr in 1963), and Puerto Rican singer and guitarist José Feliciano won best new artist in 1969, bolstered by his hit version of the Doors’ “Light My Fire.” Previous nominees were not, however, honored for their work recorded exclusively in Spanish.

Released last year, Rosalía’s “El Mal Querer,” a concept album about a toxic relationship, has been praised for its feminist themes as well as its fusion of flamenco with contemporary styles.

Just last week it was crowned album of the year at the Latin Grammys, making the singer-songwriter the first woman to win in the category as a solo act since Shakira first did in 2006. Rosalía also nabbed the trophies for contemporary pop album and urban song.

“When I made [‘El Mal Querer’] I made it from the heart,” Rosalía said at the Thursday awards show. “I didn’t think about what would happen later. I can’t control anything that happens after the creative process because after that it’s not yours anymore, it’s everyone else’s.”

The triumph was especially notable in a year when the Latin Grammys nixed the flamenco category because of the lack of flamenco album submissions.

Rosalía’s ascent has garnered some backlash from some critics who have accused her of cultural appropriation, as well as from those who question whether Spanish artists should be recognized in Latin music categories. Others have pointed out that she studied flamenco formally for years before making her 2017 debut and that she has since collaborated with some of reggaeton’s biggest stars such as J. Balvin and Ozuna.

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Hot air balloons, surfing Santas and a wacky parade can be part of your weekend.

Cathedral City

Colorful balloons paint the desert sky from sunrise to sunset at the Cathedral City Hot Air Balloon Festival at the Cathedral City Heritage Commons Amphitheater. Watch the balloons glow at an outdoor concert on Nov. 22, a pancake breakfast on Nov. 24 or at free launches every morning. Nov. 23 events include balloon rides, food trucks, live music and kids games.

When: First balloons launch at 6 a.m. each day. Nov. 22 to 24.

Cost, info: Free admission; some events require tickets. Family friendly. No dogs. (760) 321-5154, hotairballoonfest.com

Arcadia to Los Angeles

Michael Schneider, an editor at Variety, started the Great Los Angeles Walk in 2006 to celebrate his 10th year as an Angeleno. His route changes yearly; this year’s runs 18 miles from Arcadia County Park through Pasadena, across the L.A. River and through Chinatown to Grand Park. Go at your own pace to meet new friends and visit landmarks along the way.

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When: 9 a.m. Nov. 23

Cost, info: Free. Family friendly. Dogs OK at walkers’ discretion. (323) 356-2536, greatlawalk.com

Pomona

Kids can learn about gardening, corn grinding and other agricultural practices at Fall in the Farm at the Pomona Fairplex. Also on the schedule are stick-horse races, olive oil tasting, music and crafts.

When: 9 a.m. Nov. 23

Cost, info: Free admission and parking at gate 17. Family friendly. Only service dogs permitted. (909) 865-4265, bit.ly/fallinthefarm

Dana Point

Surfers, body boarders and stand-up paddleboarders conquer waves in Santa suits and other holiday garb at the ninth Surfing Santa contest. Kick back at Salt Creek Beach to watch the competitions benefiting Surfers Healing, a nonprofit that provides free surf camps for children with autism.

When: 8 a.m. Nov. 23 and 24

Cost, info: Free to watch. Family friendly. No dogs. (949) 240-2000, surfingsantacontest.org

Los Angeles

Find unusual greeting cards, clay creatures, hand-drawn maps of California and other goods at the Renegade Craft Fair at Los Angeles State Historic Park. Musicians and purveyors of tacos, popsicles and cookie dough-filled marshmallows will energize your shopping.

When: 11 a.m. Nov. 23 and 24

Cost, info: Free. Family friendly. Dogs OK. (312) 226-8654, bit.ly/renegadecraftfairLA

Pasadena

Expect eccentricities at the 42nd Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade. Saxophone-playing Señor Groucho, Taco Car, Trashion Show and other floats, art cars and performers lead the parade around East Pasadena.

When: 11 a.m. Nov. 24

Cost, info: Free. Family friendly. Dogs OK. (626) 590-7596, pasadenadoodahparade.info

It’s California, so you don’t usually start your new year freezing, except if you are a fan of the polar bear plunge. Many of the swims are on New Year’s Day and raise money for charity, but all of them are guaranteed to take your breath away. Here are several places to take the plunge.

Huntington Beach

What better way to welcome the next decade than with an invigorating splash in the Pacific Ocean? The Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum will host the 20th Surf City Splash the morning of Jan. 1.

Tickets cost $20. Participants will earn a Certificate of Success; those who chose not to take the plunge get a Certificate of Sanity. There will be a pancake breakfast as well. “It’s a great way to start the year,” said Lee Love, the event’s founder.

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Info: hbsurfcitysplash.com

Big Bear Lake

Polar Plunges that raise money for Special Olympics take place throughout the country, including March 7 in Big Bear Lake. You can register as an individual or a team and run into the lake, which is about a two-hour drive east of Los Angeles.

Teams with names such as “Rancho Cucamonga IncredABLES” and “Big Bear Copsicles” are already registered for the upcoming plunge.

Info: bit.ly/bigbearplunge

Special Olympics elsewhere in California

Thousands also are expected to participate in about a dozen plunges benefiting Special Olympics around the state. Events will take place Feb. 8 in Sacramento; Feb. 29 (fittingly, Leap Day) in San Francisco; March 21 in Santa Cruz; and March 28 in South Lake Tahoe.

Info: sonc.org/polarplunge

Cayucos, Calif.

About 210 miles up the coast from L.A., the resort town of Cayucos also hosts a New Year’s Day swim. The 40th Carlin Soulé Memorial Polar Bear Dip takes place at noon next to the historic Cayucos Pier.

For the past four decades, people have met on Cayucos Beach, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, to kick off the new year by running into the ocean.

Many participants and spectators dress in costume. At last year’s event, Vikings, flamingos and even an elf showed up.

Info: bit.ly/cayucosplunge

Redding, Calif.

You don’t have to jump into an ocean or lake for it to count as a plunge. Redding, the county seat of Shasta County, hosts its Polar Bear Plunge on Jan. 1 at the Redding Aquatic Center.

Contests include Biggest Polar Bear Splash, Oldest Polar Bear and Best Polar Bear Hat. After the plunge, warm up with a hot drink. Participants pay $8 to $45 depending on the amount of swag they want.

Info: bit.ly/reddingplunge

Seward, Alaska

If you think California is a bit chilly for a plunge, how about Alaska in mid-January? The 35th Seward Polar Bear Jump is limited to 100 participants who jump into the freezing waters of Resurrection Bay.

Jumpers raise money for the American Cancer Society. This year’s goal is $150,000, about $10,000 more than last year, according to the group’s Facebook page. The 35th event is set for Jan. 18.

Info: alaskapolarbearjump.org

Boeing Co. secured orders for 50 737 Max narrow-body planes, padding its tally at the Dubai Airshow while building momentum for the grounded aircraft ahead of its potential return to the skies in coming weeks.

Kazakhstan’s Air Astana signed a letter of intent for 30 jets, Boeing announced Tuesday, while an undisclosed customer bought 20, according to a person familiar with the matter. The orders come after SunExpress of Turkey purchased 10 planes, giving a total value of about $7.5 billion at list prices.

“This was a tendered competition we fought hard for and won,” Stan Deal, the new head of Boeing’s jetliner business, said of the Air Astana order. The sale will be especially welcome since the Central Asian carrier is an established customer for Airbus’ rival A320neo.

Business for the Max has been sparse since the latest version of the storied 737 series was idled in March after two deadly crashes in five months. The A320neo, meanwhile, won a $14-billion, 120-plane order from Air Arabia at the Dubai show Monday, followed by a $1.3-billion acquisition of 12 Neos by U.K. discount airline EasyJet.

And Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet told Bloomberg on Monday that it was discussing an order for an undisclosed number of Max jets.

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But the trickle of orders can’t disguise the effect of the crisis surrounding the plane.

That was recently laid bare in data showing the A320 overtook the 737 by total orders for the first time in October, with 15,193 during the Airbus model’s lifetime versus 15,136 for its rival. The Boeing jet was more than 400 orders ahead at the end of last year. The 737, in service for longer, remains No. 1 by deliveries, with about 10,500 shipped compared with just over 9,000 A320s.

Boeing is working with regulators to certify a fix to flight-automation software that was involved in both fatal disasters and has said it’s aiming for Federal Aviation Administration approval to return the Max to the skies by the end of this year.

In the meantime, customers for the troubled model are generally hedging their bets by declining to commit to firm orders. That was true of a blockbuster $24-billion deal for 200 planes announced by IAG at the Paris Air Show in June.

The British Airways parent affirmed deployment plans for the aircraft at an investor day this month while excluding them from a tally of future orders since deliveries aren’t due until 2023.

The Kazakh deal is particularly positive for the Max since Air Astana has been building its short-haul fleet around the A320neo. The company intends to take the Boeing planes from 2021 and deploy them at its FlyArystan low-cost unit. It may still add Airbus jets after studying the A321XLR for its longest routes.

Away from the Max-A320 faceoff, Airbus has dominated in Dubai, led by an Emirates order for 50 A350 wide-body planes valued at $16 billion.

The deal includes 20 more planes than an initial agreement in February, though the Dubai airline, the world’s largest on long-haul routes, failed to sign off on 40 A330neos included in the earlier accord.

At the same time, Boeing failed to progress a sale of 40 787 Dreamliners to Emirates, and that sale now appears to be in the balance. The Persian Gulf giant also has 150 orders for the 777X wide-body, delays to which have invoked the ire of its president, Tim Clark.

Airbus’s smallest model, the A220, also secured an eight-plane order from Air Senegal. While small, the deal helps to top up the backlog for the former CSeries jet that the European company acquired from Bombardier Inc. Saudi discount carrier Flynas also firmed up the purchase of 10 A321XLRS that had been flagged earlier.

Boeing wrapped up its show with a three-plane order for the 787-9 variant of the Dreamliner from Ghana. The planes will be used by a new carrier due to commence flights in the first quarter of next year. The deal adds to a two-plane 787 order from Biman Bangladesh Airlines announced Sunday.

Philip and Odeh write for Bloomberg.

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The merger of the big newspaper chains Gannett and GateHouse Media, which became final Tuesday, will create a “stronger” and “more viable” print and digital news enterprise “with deep local roots and national scale.”

That’s the optimistic view mouthed by Michael Reed, the CEO of New Media Investment Group, GateHouse’s parent, on Nov. 14 after the deal was approved by shareholders of both companies.

One would hope so, since the news business could use an injection of optimism these days. Perhaps there are grounds for hope, since the “new Gannett,” as Reed dubbed the combination, will have national-scale heft, creating the largest newspaper chain in the U.S., encompassing 263 daily news organizations.

News industry analyst Ken Doctor

But there may be just as much reason for doubt. The economic environment of local news continues to become more dismal as print advertising disappears and managements struggle to raise digital advertising and subscription fees enough to take up the slack.

Advertisers have many online platforms to reach customers, and the vast majority of remaining newspaper readers are in the aging demographic that digital advertisers don’t much care for.

“Since 2008, there hasn’t been a single year of revenue gain in the newspaper industry as a whole,” says veteran industry analyst Ken Doctor. That’s produced a strategy of “continuous cost-cutting for more than a decade in local news.” The cuts have come heavily in the form of layoffs at media companies of scores or hundreds of workers at a time.

The merged Gannett and GateHouse may not diverge from the trend; Reed has said that he expects to wring as much as $300 million in “synergies” from the combination, but that may be hard to do without more shrinkage in the workforce. Earlier this year, GateHouse reportedly laid off more than 60 employees (the company would not disclose the actual number but called it “immaterial”) and Gannett reportedly laid off several hundred.

The private equity firm Alden Capital, which owns the Orange County Register, Denver Post, San Jose Mercury News and more than 90 other publications and boasts a reputation as a pitiless parer of payroll, has attracted much of the publicly expressed ire over wholesale plundering of local news resources — with good reason, for Alden publications have been cutting staff at about twice the rate of the industry as a whole.

(Alden on Tuesday announced that it had become the largest shareholder of Tribune, the former owner of The Times, by acquiring the entire 25.2% stake held by Tribune’s former chairman, Michael Ferro, for $13 a share or $117.9 million.)

But public companies such as Gannett, GateHouse and also McClatchy Co. can’t escape the industry’s economic challenges.

Sacramento-based McClatchy, a chain of 30 newspapers including the Sacramento Bee, Miami Herald and Kansas City Star, may be another canary in the news industry’s coal mine. McClatchy reported a loss of $304.7 million on revenue of $167.4 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 29. Most of the loss reflected a write-down of the company’s news assets.

But the company also reported long-term debt of more than $700 million. McClatchy said its finances were so impaired that it wouldn’t have the cash or cash flow to make a required minimum contribution of $124 million to its pension fund next year and was negotiating a possible takeover of the plan by the government’s Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp.

McClatchy’s parlous condition has sent it on a quest for a merger partner. In December, the firm bid $16.50 per share for Tribune, the owner of the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, Baltimore Sun and Hartford Courant, and the former owner of The Times. But the offer fell short of the $20 reportedly demanded by Ferro, who was then Tribune’s largest shareholder.

That said, the two companies might have made a good fit, as Tribune’s large-market publications would have balanced McClatchy’s stable of smaller metro newspapers.

Tribune, moreover, may have the best balance sheet in the industry, having paid down most of its long-term debt with the proceeds of Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong’s purchase of The Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune for $500 million. That deal closed in June 2018; Soon-Shiong remains a major shareholder of Tribune, with 24.4% of the company as of March 20.

Indeed, Doctor asserts that talks have resumed between McClatchy and Tribune. Both companies declined to comment on the assertion.

The most important question raised by the ostensibly synergistic consolidation in the news industry represented by the acquisition spree of firms such as Alden and the Gannett-Gatehouse merger is what the owners will do with any savings they extract. For almost any news organization looking to the future, the imperative is to invest in digital capabilities, since that’s where the news audience has been moving to.

GateHouse hasn’t been known for such investment. According to a 2018 survey by Penelope Muse Abernathy of the University of North Carolina, the firm’s practice after acquiring a newspaper has been to “consolidate copy editing and page design” at a corporate center, then replace veteran and specialty reporters with younger (and cheaper) general assignment reporters. “GateHouse-owned newsrooms are often half the size within a matter of months,” Abernathy reported.

Reed, who will be the merged company’s chairman, told investors of New Media, the GateHouse parent, on Oct. 31 that the merger would allow the company to quickly pay down debt and “to return capital to shareholders through dividends, in addition to investing for growth that will drive revenues.” It shouldn’t escape notice that it’s not always easy to reconcile using cash to pay shareholder dividends with “investing for growth.”

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The increasingly common pattern is to operate local newspapers as sources of plunder. At GateHouse, for example, the Gannett deal will enrich Fortress Investment Group, a private equity firm that created GateHouse and remained as a major player in the company through an initial public offering and a bankruptcy, and currently runs GateHouse through a management contract.

Fortress will give up the management contract at the end of 2021, but will leave with a payout that New Media investor Leon Cooperman blasted on an investor conference call as “morally wrong.”

“I know we’re happy to get rid of Fortress,” Cooperman told Reed. “They brought this public in 2014 at $16 a share. The stock is $8.5 and they’re going to walk away with hundreds of millions of dollars. … They shouldn’t even take the money, given what they’ve done here.” (Cooperman is the billionaire investor who recently tangled with Elizabeth Warren over her proposal for a wealth tax.)

Plunder can work as a short-term money-making strategy in an industry that remains profitable while tracing a glide path to extinction. “Financial players like Fortress and Alden are making significant money on the way down,” says Doctor. “They see the way down as close to inevitable.”

In the news business that’s a self-fulfilling strategy, however. Public companies such as Gannett and McClatchy have resisted such fatalism. They have imposed sharp cuts on some of their local publications and cut back on physical delivery — McClatchy is planning to end Saturday publication of all its newspapers by the end of next year, though it will post new articles online. But they also have invested in investigative reporting and other national-level efforts, as well as digital initiatives.

As traditional revenues continue to decline — and at an ever faster pace — those companies find themselves in a vise. Making the transition to digital news requires resources that may be harder to come by. Meanwhile, Doctor says, they’re trying to buy time through shrinkage even as their ultimate destination remains unclear.

“After two more years of this,” Doctor asks, “what kind of products are going to be left in local communities that readers feel are worth a digital subscription? What’s your strategy after all the cost-cutting?”

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — 

The Middle East’s biggest carrier, the Dubai-based Emirates, announced on Wednesday a firm order for 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in a deal valued at $8.8 billion.

Emirates CEO and Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said this order replaces an agreement for 150 777x Boeing to 126 of that aircraft, and adds 30 of the 787-9 Dreamliners. He spoke to reporters at the Dubai Airshow.

Combined with Emirates’ previous announcement this week for new Airbus aircraft, this brings the airline’s total orders at the airshow to $24 billion. Airlines, however, typically negotiate steep discounts from manufacturers.

On Monday, Emirates announced it would be buying 20 additional wide-body Airbus A350s, bringing its total order for the aircraft to 50 in an agreement worth $16 billion at list price.

That deal, however, replaces a $21.4-billion agreement struck in February to purchase 70 Airbus aircraft, which had included 40 of the A330neo. Delivery is slated to start in 2023.

The Emirates, which feeds Dubai’s busy international airport, posted significantly lower earnings of $237 million last year due to spikes in fuel costs at the end of 2018, a strengthened U.S. dollar, lower airfreight demand and weakened travel demand.

The five-day Dubai biennial airshow, which started Sunday, draws major commercial and military firms from around the world, as well as smaller manufacturers competing for business in the Middle East. The United States has the largest foreign country presence with around 140 exhibitors.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Defense and State Department are also at the airshow, meeting with officials from the United Arab Emirates, which is one of the world’s top buyers of American-made weapons and defense equipment.

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