Analysis: Will Rupert Murdoch Save The Los Angeles Times?

Rupert Murdoch is bidding for Tribune Company -- a move that, if accomplished, will give the Australian media titan a bucketful of newspapers, 23 TV stations and the Chicago Cubs. Murdoch (who should dump the Cubs), will have control over California's most powerful paper -- the Los Angeles Times. Circulation at The Times has been a declining slope for most of the last five years.

It's no secret circulation at nearly every newspaper has suffered since the internet blossomed into a major info source. The average circulation decline for all major U.S. papers is -2.8% a year. This has not been so at U.S. and British papers owned by Rupert's News Corporation. The New York Post has an average readership gain of 5.1 percent per year. Murdoch's sensaltionalized news style and ability to grasp new media (MySpace) draws the prized 25-34 age group like no other papers.

All this begs the question, will The Times turn tabloid? LA sure has the stories.
Quote: TRB