The NY Post, WSJ and NY Daily News to Join Forces
Traditional print media must really be at an impasse when you see two rival dailies join forces, to aid in leveraging costs. This very act of cooperation is exactly what we’re seeing in the case of two state of New York dailies.
The New York Post, Wall Street Journal and the New York Daily News are in negotiations to see if the three publications can combine distribution, printing and back office duties. Both the Post/Journal owner (Rupert Murdoch) and the Daily News owner (Mort Zuckerman) were both said to have had a bid in for the Tribune Co.’s Newsday and had hoped that winning the bid would allow them to optimize and streamline work functions then.
“The request for proposal is an opportunity we are jointly exploring to lower costs, improve efficiency and strengthen our respective newspapers,” said Howard Rubenstein, who handles public relations for News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch.
Publishers, since I can remember, have always been faulted for being territorial and missing the big picture opportunity. If the cooperative deal between Murdoch and Zuckerman goes through, I think it has the ability to change the way in which the print media industry interacts with each other. This finally shows the importance of looking at the big picture of “staying in business” because no longer is the competition in your market, the rival daily down the road, when more and more of your customers are seeking the same information you offer in print, online.
