News Corporation has sold 23 small US newspapers - including eight daily titles - and other niche publications to a private equity firm.
The Dow Jones Local Media Group was acquired by the Fortress Investment Group, News Corp announced in a news release. The publications will be managed by GateHouse Media, which publishes 97 dailies in 20 states plus 198 paid-for weeklies.
Among the News Corp disposals are the Cape Cod Times, the Herald in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the Daily Tidings in Ashford, Oregon.
The publications "were not strategically consistent with the emerging portfolio of the new News Corp", said chief executive Robert Thomson. "We are confident that the papers will prosper under the new owners."
The sell-off is one of its first such moves since Rupert Murdoch's new News Corp was spun off in June as a separate entity.
Sources: News Corp/New York Times
