News Corp. (NWS -0.39%) (NWSA -0.20%) announced yesterday that it's sold the Dow Jones Local Media Group to an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG). The sale includes 33 publications -- 8 daily and 15 weekly newspapers.
The papers included in the sale are:
- Times Herald-Record (Middletown, N.Y.)
- Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.)
- The Record (Stockton, Calif.)
- The Standard-Times (New Bedford, Mass.)
- The Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, Pa.)
- The Herald (Portsmouth, N.H.)
- The Mail Tribune (Medford, Ore.)
- The Daily Tidings (Ashland, Ore.)
Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp., said in a statement that, "These newspapers share a strong tradition of service in their communities and a highly talented staff. We are confident that the papers will prosper under the new owners, but they were not strategically consistent with the emerging portfolio of the new News."
Dow Jones Local also has community print and online media, magazines, news, and advertising publications that are included in the sale. In a press release, News Corp. said the Dow Jones operations will be managed by GateHouse Media -- which already oversees 400 community publications and about 350 websites.
Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. Besides The Wall Street Journal, News Corp. still owns the New York Post. Fortress Investment Group LLC specializes in buying troubled businesses.
-- Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
