Saw the following post on McCarville Report Online...what do you think? Pretty big news if true. Steve...what do you know?

There's word on the grapevine today that a major announcement involving two large newspapers in the state is forthcoming as a result of a huge drop in advertising revenues and resultant personnel cuts.

The Tulsa World recently laid off 28 employees, 26 of them reporters. The Oklahoman last fall cut an estimated 150 employees.

Publications and radio stations that rely on advertising dollars have been hit hard by economic conditions. Clear Channel Radio in Oklahoma City today cut at least six employees, providing severance packages, in a company-wide effort to trim $400 million in expenses nationwide.

Multiple sources say the newspapers involved have reached agreement on sharing newsroom resources. The deal also apparently involves the reassignment of some reporters.


Any thoughts?

It wouldn't surprise me if the Oklahoman and the Tulsa World merged. All the news outlets have known that there is a tremendous "weeding out" coming. It's not a matter of "if"...the only question is, "When?" It's been underway for quite a while, but this economic downturn seems to be speeding things up.

Sharing newsroom resources isn't really quite the same thing though. They don't really compete against each other. The circulation of the World is much smaller and has a more narrow market focus, which makes it more vulnerable. The Oklahoman is total crap, but they're still the big daddy as far as circulation goes. All this really says is that they're going to help each other out when it makes sense.

TV stations use affiliates all the time, so I would see this as the same thing. Each paper has an anchor in their respective metros and can offer a base of operations or simple running articles from the other.

I hardly imagine they are going to complete merge into one company. Both papers are media giants in their own community. We're the only state in the nation where the two largest papers are still family-owned. Perhaps that could be seen as a weakness by some.

It wouldn't surprise me if they partnered and shared coverage, particularly since the World just cut a couple of people from their Capitol bureau. The Oklahoman's Tulsa coverage also has been weak in recent years.

One should note that for the 10th anniversary of the bombing, The Oklahoman published a commemorative section. It was also published in the Tulsa World, even though the content was written by The Oklahoman staff. So, there is a precedent for sharing between the two publications.

In Denver The Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post have some "joint operating agreement" under the banner of Denver Newspaper Agency (http://www.denvernewspaperagency.com/), I think these type of arrangements are going to be more common.


The Denver Newspaper Agency publishes The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News under a joint operating agreement designed to preserve editorial competition. Combined business operations are managed by The Agency, which is equally owned by MediaNews and The E. W. Scripps Co.

Here is a story about the Clear Channel cuts.
San Antonio Business Journal - Clear Channel cuts 1,850 jobs nationwide (http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2009/01/19/daily1.html?surround=lfn)

They can merge into one corporation and still run two papers.

Very true...and that would probably be the best. The World customers have plenty reason to be more happy with their paper, and would probably be very unhappy to get a jokelahoman at their doorstep. However, I would expect if Gaylord took over the World, that eventually it would mirror the daily dissapointment anyway...and would eventually phase out the World.

If only our state media didn't suck...

It's not the media folks themselves -- it's that they're asked to do a lot of work on their own with short deadlines. Good journalism takes time, and no one wants to pay for good journalism when a few craptastic stories such as "OMG WILL COACH CAPEL LEAVE!?" will sell just as many papers.

The World may well want to leverage the multi-media capabilities of the Oklahoman.

The latter has done a great job with their website, archives, video productions, etc.

It might make sense for OPUBCO to contract out their staff for similar services.

Yukong, I really don't know anything about this. I can direct you to Poynter Online (http://www.poynter.org), which might provide you a better idea of how these cooperative relationships are developing. Examples include the Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star Telegram sharing sports coverage, while other share printing, distribution or other resources.

And for those of you who want in-depth coverage, you need to speak out and let it be known. The consultants and focus groups are sending a different message.

Very true...and that would probably be the best. The World customers have plenty reason to be more happy with their paper, and would probably be very unhappy to get a jokelahoman at their doorstep. However, I would expect if Gaylord took over the World, that eventually it would mirror the daily dissapointment anyway...and would eventually phase out the World.

If only our state media didn't suck...

Agreed!!I like the Tulsa world!:fighting4

This appears to be the news release that came out this afternoon or will come out tomorrow.

News organizations to cooperate

Oklahoma’s two largest news organizations, The Oklahoman and the Tulsa World, announced Thursday they will share selected stories, photos and other news content to better serve their audiences throughout the state.

The agreement means some content produced by The Oklahoman’s staff will appear in the World and on the World’s Web site, TulsaWorld.com. Likewise, some news content produced by the World’s staff will appear in The Oklahoman and on NewsOK.com.

Stories and photos produced by one organization and published by the other will carry attribution to the contributing newspaper or Web site.

Ed Kelley, The Oklahoman’s editor, said the collaboration provides more coverage of news in Oklahoma for the organizations’ audiences at an uncertain time for the news industry. Both The Oklahoman and the World have terminated newsroom positions the past four months as part of cost-cutting measures.

Over time the two organizations will focus on reducing some areas of duplication, such as sending reporters from both The Oklahoman and the World to cover routine news events.

“We want to try to make sure the level of coverage doesn’t drop even as our staffs are smaller,” Kelley said. “Partnering with the World and their professionals makes a lot of sense for both of us.”

“We are excited at the quality and breadth of journalism that can be done by combining the two largest newsgathering operations in the state,” said Joe Worley, executive editor of the Tulsa World.

Both Kelley and Worley said the two organizations will maintain their separate voices on their editorial and opinion pages, as well as their individual approaches to gathering news.