Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp Sells Community Newspaper Group

The Brooklyn-headquartered division is a network of 11 community newspapers and web sites

News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is selling its Community Newspaper Group, which distributes more than 235,000 copies of its papers in New York City, to Les and Jennifer Goodstein, the publishers of such papers as Downtown Express and Gay City News.

Financial terms of the deal, expected to close next week, were not disclosed.

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CNG, headquartered in Brooklyn, publishes 11 community newspapers and web sites, including Caribbean Life, The Brooklyn Paper, The Bronx Times Reporter, Bay News and Bay Ridge Courier, Bayside Times and TimesLedger. It also publishes the specialty magazines the Wedding Guide and Sweet Sixteen Magazine.

The Goodsteins’ NYC CommunityMedia also publishes The Villager, East Villager News and Chelsea Now. Les Goodstein, a former News Corp executive, ran CNG from its launch in 2006 until 2013.

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“This sale, like our divestiture of the Dow Jones Local Media Group, helps us reshape the News Corp portfolio as we achieve greater globalization and digitization of our businesses with an eye towards long-term growth,” said Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp. “We’re confident that these newspapers and magazines will prosper under the leadership of Les and Jennifer Goodstein.”

“I look forward to the continued success of the Community Newspaper Group,” said Les Goodstein. “Both my wife and I are members of the community and are pleased to continue serving the readers of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. We plan to expand local coverage with local news important to the neighborhoods we serve.”

News Corp sold the Dow Jones Local Media Group, which operated 33 publications, to an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC last September.

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