Google Inc. and The Associated Press have negotiated a licensing renewal agreement that will allow the search engine to continue posting content provided by the news cooperative. The multi-year agreement has two key components: an undisclosed payment for the rights to AP's content, and a data-sharing arrangement aimed at helping the news cooperative make more money across the Internet. Under the terms of the licensing deal, Google properties will also publish content from The Canadian Press, Agence France-Presse and the UK Press Association.

Metro International, the world’s largest free newspaper chain, has hired a brand team to create its first global branding campaign. The team will be led by Mattias Frodlund, who previously worked for Leo Burnett. The initiative will be targeted at readers, advertisers, employees and shareholders and is expected to run across 19 markets from the beginning of 2011.

Mark Warner, president of Black Press Vancouver Island, announced that Joanna Ross will become the new publisher at the Comox Valley Record (BC) effective September 27. Ross takes over the position from Nathan Weathington who was recently appointed as the new publisher at The Morning Star in Vernon, B.C.

The Victoria Times Colonist received the 2010 Justicia Award for Excellence in legal Journalism for its series on access to information in the B.C. court system. The Justicia Awards, sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association and the Department of Justice, recognize outstanding journalism that contributes to public understanding of the Canadian justice system.