Newspaper deal falls apart as Gannett gives up on Tronc

USA Today publisher Gannett walked away Tuesday from its attempted takeover of Tronc, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other major dailies. Gannett’s target was elusive from the beginning, with a publicly contentious back-and-forth between the two companies. Tronc, formerly known as Tribune Publishing, rejected at least two bids from Gannett since April because it said it preferred to go it alone and focus on tech-driven initiatives involving artificial intelligence and global expansion in entertainment news…