Murdoch, Newsday close to deal

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-bznews0422,0,3020603.story

Newsday's parent company is near an agreement to sell the Long Island paper to New York Post owner Rupert Murdoch for $580 million, according to a source familiar with the negotiations and to a published report.

Details on a cash deal between the Tribune Co. and Murdoch's News Corp. won't be final for another three or four weeks, the source said. A possible agreement was also reported last night by The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp. as well.

The Journal reported that the "price structure and governance" have been agreed upon informally and that the Post and Newsday would be separate papers. It also stressed that the sides were hammering out final details and that the deal could still fall apart.

According to The Journal, Tribune would keep a stake of less than 5%.

Is Rupert trying to cover the ground between the Post and the Journal, maybe since Newsday isn't quite as lowbrow as the Post. The ultimate News Corp goal in the NYC market, to defeat the Times and gradually reduce all news media to the level of the Post/Fox. http://nypostoplobotomy.com/