Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who owns both the NY Post and the Wall Street Journal, has been been put in the humiliating position of asking for a favor from his competitors. The Journal has been getting ready to launch a new edition in April, with an NYC metro section intended as a tough competitor to the Times. Meanwhile, Murdoch’s News Corporation is upgrading the Post’s printing plant in the South Bronx so that it can print the Journal and the Post. But there have been major delays on that, and now Murdoch needs to outsource some of The Post’s printing, so he's been reduced to begging his enemies for help. We do believe a HA-HA is in order.
Of course, the Daily News has a really sweet printing plant in Jersey City, with ample capacity and some of the most advanced presses in the country. Murdoch went crawling to them first, asking if maybe they could find it in their hearts to let the Post do a little printing. It's unclear in what manner Mort Zuckerman told him no, but one imagines the denial was accompanied by braying laughter, and perhaps a monkey playing a tiny violin.
So then Murdoch went to the Times, which sources say is considering making the deal, "despite Mr. Murdoch’s stated intent to compete with The Times and weaken it." A general manager at the Times adds, "This is an advantageous business transaction and nothing more." The work would yield The Times about $200,000 were they to charge normal rates, but insiders suspect the price is likely to be "significantly higher." And unlike the Times, News Corp's got money to burn, so for an extra 100K maybe the Sulzbergers can sell Murdoch some rope and help him noose it around their necks.
