WASHINGTON, D.C. Mar. 20 (DPI) – Back in August 2013, when it was announced Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would acquire The Washington Post for a paltry $250 million, the Sulzberger family of The New York Times pointedly declared its publication was not for sale.

Have times changed? Might Bezos acquire The New York Times as well?

There’s good reason to think so:  The two newspapers, once fierce competitors, are – online at least – looking an awful lot alike these days. Their publishing priorities – broad national and global coverage with a moderate-to-liberal progressive bias — are virtually the same.  At some point viewers – and even readers – will notice that the two news organizations are producing nearly identical products, save for coverage of their respective cities.

Such a development underscores that all news sites nowadays have the same reach; news gathering outfits compete directly in the digital age. Moreover, the publications have the personalities and the political values of the people who run them, and these two august publications have long sat on the same pew in the same church – especially today, an age of more pews (news-gathering voices) and many more churches (competing distribution technologies).

From a business standpoint a newspaper’s personality and internal culture are important: No one would ever suggest that The Times and crosstown rival The Wall Street Journal, given their disparate political outlooks, would find the proverbial synergies to merge.

There’s one other factor: The Times has labored to raise its stock price, now in the mid-teens, giving the company a market cap of about $2.5 billion. That’s the highest valuation of the company in several years, and the Sulzbergers, whose ancestors have owned and operated the daily since The Civil War, may find this an opportune time to do a deal.

Digital advertising has proven to be no replacement for print, and given its chronic unreliability; at some point a publisher may decide digital advertising never will replace print. As a result professional news gatherers may have to consolidate in all metro areas — and rely more on readers actually paying for they news they get – to do something more than simply survive.

Since the acquisition by Bezos, The Post web site hasn’t changed dramatically, save for the greater use of “Five Reasons” and “Ten Reasons” headlines that seek to spur readers to click through to a news story, a widespread trend. More Twitter-like headlines, too, lead the site’s index page (“Orange Line Delayed”) at certain times of day, a response to the demand for real-time information on handheld devices.

The Times, meanwhile, recently announced plans to launch an $8-per-month app to reach those unwilling to pay the $35 monthly all-digital subscription.  It all confirms that paid subscriptions are likely the future for major news sites.

But younger readers who are not following investments or other market activity are less likely to pay for multiple subscriptions for news, suggesting that The Times and The Post may be stronger and more successful as a single operation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post